The Island of Nowhere
by HolyDragoon
Summary: Harry is tired from the world, and goes to the Potter Farm, located in an island that cannot be found in any map. Watch as someone decides to join him and the story of the island brings out the explorer inside Harry. Probable Harry/Septima Vector
1. Presenting the Madness

**This is a rather bizarre idea I had today. This chapter is mostly a way to feel the feedback and check out if it is worth to pursue this story, which has a kind of a crossover with Vagrant Story.**

**I do not own Harry Potter or Vagrant Story.**

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><p>She felt dead inside. Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts five years ago, everything in that castle seemed to make her remember the bodies of her students. How many possibilities to recover the wizarding Britain were lost to the madness of Voldemort? Still, it was the bravery of all the students that saved the wizarding world in that fateful day, where Harry Potter finally brought the demise of the Dark Lord.<p>

She wondered how was he doing. She recalled the long talks they had for the summer after the defeat. He stayed in Hogwarts, far from journalists and the spotlight. "Let Neville, Ron, Hermione and the other appreciate it... to quote Churchill: 'This was their finest hour.' Let them reap the rewards. Let them be famous and happy. Let them change the world. My job is done." He had seen death so close... so many times. He seemed to be tired of being a hero. He never wanted to be a hero. He decided to go away. But before leaving... He must have seen something in her eyes. He left her a small letter.

The letter.

_A letter that changed her world..._

She sought him in the fields. He was near the river, riding his horse while Grimm chased them happily, barking and wagging his tail. He must have been checking the farm's wine cellar. She recalled him saying that this year might me the one. He would finally be able to bottle his wine as one coming from the Potter Farm, after 150 years of no production.

_But not everything was farming and happiness..._

She watched him dodging a blow from the pile of rotten flesh that was the undead Minotaur. Raising his wand, he cast the first spell that came to his mind. "_E__xseco_!"

A burst of purple light travelled in the direction of the Minotaur, whose... bits blew on impact. Of course, and undead Minotaur has no use for them whatsoever.

To her left, Bill Weasley lifted an eyebrow while silently casting a Bombarda. "A castration curse, Harry?"

The boy smiled sheepishly, running with them up the ramp that led to the door of that bloody room. "First thing that came to my mind. Might have something to do with my threat of hexing his bits off."

She shook her head. Clutching her rifle tightly, she entered the following room, but turned on the balls of her feet and took aim at the lumbering behemoth. Aiming carefully, she squeezed the trigger, sending a 40mm grenade into her target's chest.

The Minotaur's unlife ceased in the moment the grenade detonated. Septima Vector grinned widely, much to the chagrin of the other three members of the team. "I love Muggle weapons that go boom."

_The Island of Nowhere, a story of friendship, maybe romance, adventure and some slightly insane wizards._

The setting: Harry had a hard life. His close encounters with death left him tired of the world, even after the fall of the Dark Lord. Voldemort's visions and Sirius death only worsened the problem. He always tried to stay away from anyone that was not a part of his group of friends. After the disaster with Cho, he never acted on his feelings upon a girl, focusing instead on ending the madman that called himself Lord Voldemort.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, he spent the whole Summer holidays in Hogwarts, hiding from his fame in the wizarding world. It was on that time that he started to talk with Septima Vector, a half-blood (on this specific story) witch that taught Arithmancy at Hogwarts.

Harry left Hogwarts before the next school year started, to have a talk with the Goblins regarding his intrusion. The goblins were not amused, but this story will cover their encounter. Harry then moved to Potter Farm on the Island of Nowhere. This particular island, managed by a man with a very strange name, had a set of ruins with a dark story. Cue Harry entering the ruins to explore them. Strangeness ensues.

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><p><strong>So... do you think it is worth the effort to write this? Read and Review with your reply!<strong>

**EDIT: Thanks to "So you want to be an Author" for pointing out a mistake there while making me laugh for a while.  
><strong>


	2. Starting a New Life

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, apart from the original characters. Yadda yadda, you know it.**

**Here you have, the first proper chapter of this insanity!**

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><p><strong>Gringotts, President Office<strong>

**.  
><strong>

"He did what?" shouted a furious Goldsmelter, as they emerged from the Pensieve, "And who allowed this abomination to be stored?" He swore in gobbledegook as he retrieved a tome from his desk and opened it.

Harry looked at the goblin, confused. What was he blabbering about? The goblin might have noticed his expression, as he cleared his throat and lifted his gaze from the book. "Mr. Potter, are you aware of the treaty signed between goblins and wizards that led to the creation of Gringotts?"

The wizard seemed to think for a few moments, trying to remember if Professor Binns ever made any references to the treaty. "Not that I am aware of. I mean, I know Gringotts was created after that treaty, but not the actual details of it."

Goldsmelter shook his head, sighing. "One of the points that was covered was the immediate destruction of dark objects that entered the bank, notifying the Ministry of Magic as soon as possible. Of course," he pointed to the tome "that idiot Griphook had to allow the cup to be stored at the Lestrange Vault. I'd kill him if he wasn't already dead. The loss of talented goblins and the damage to the building... Anyway, back to business, Mr. Potter. Since the... invasion had a good reason, and was caused by a breach in the treaty, we will only ask you two things: to pay for the repairs on this building and to help our cursebreakers explore a ruin in an island. You have a farm there, so I believe you could shelter them for the time they spend there, yes?"

The Boy-Who-Won cleared his throat. "President Goldsmelter, I am not aware of the Potter family possessions, apart from my trust vault." he said politely.

The goblin rubbed his temples. "Very well Mr. Potter -"

"Just Harry, President." interrupted the teenager.

"As you wish, Harry, although you will have to call me Goldsmelter, then. Since our former account managers are, well, dead, it will take some time until we reorganize those services. However, I will open an exception to you and act as your account manager. Do you have something against that, Harry?"

"Not at all, Goldsmelter, I'd be honoured to have you as my account manager." Harry knew he had to flatter the goblin a bit. After all, one would not ant to have the goblins as their enemies, and Harry had the suspicion that even if his break-in was forgiven, goblins would not forget, unless he showed them he was one who could be at the very least respected.

Goldsmelter nodded, before resting his hand on a small golden trinket. "Bring me the documents related to the Potter, please." A few moments later, another goblin appeared, carrying a large folder.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. It looks like a telephone."

Goldsmelter grinned. "It is inspired on that Muggle invention. You have no idea how that helps conduct our business. This folder contains all the documents regarding the lands and monetary assets from the Potter family. The documents at Gringotts include pretty much everything related to the accounts, but if you wish, I could provide you with a shorter list for you to check out later."

"I'd like that, Goldsmelter. Before we go into the subject of the farm, could you give me a short overview of the investments made with the Potter funds?" asked Harry, carefully concealing his surprise at the news of having more funds available to him.

"Of course. The funds are being invested in several companies both Muggle and magical. As you will be able to see in the list, the profit percentage may be small, but the amount and the time invested assured that the amount earned was substantial." The goblin stated, satisfied at the wizard's nod of approval. Not many wizards bothered to see what the goblins were doing with their money, but he had the feeling this young man was quite different.

"I see. I guess I'll leave the investments with you, although I'd like a monthly report to be given to me so I can keep track of the investments. Also, regarding the repairs, what's the impact on the funs of the account?" asked Harry, impressed with the goblin's eye for business.

"Well, the total amount needed for the repairs would be half of your earnings in the investments I just mentioned." the goblin replied, smirking inwardly as Harry proved his assumptions to be correct.

Said wizard smiled. "Looks like your account management just saved me some trouble, then. Feel free to withdraw the money for the repairs as soon as possible. Now, let us move to the subject of the farm. What can you tell me about it."

"Ah, you see Harry, the Potter Farm is quite interesting. It is also a valuable source of income, since you still have some old bottles in the wine cellar. Aged wine from Potter Farm, or rather, any wine from the Potter Farm can be considered the drink of Lords."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I never heard of it, though." The goblin nodded sadly. "Alas, the last harvest was made some 150 years ago. The farm was left in stasis since then. About the quality of the wine, I speak from personal experience, since one of your teachers is a distant relative of mine, and we enjoy drinking a good glass of wine during our vacations. "

"Professor Flitwick." Harry answered with a smile. "About the expedition, don't worry, your cursebreakers shall be well received. In fact, I'm thinking about moving to the farm myself. Can you tell me where the island is and how to reach it?"

The goblin sighed. "Harry, I'm afraid the island is unplottable. That is why it is called "Island of Nowhere". Still, it is possible to access it with a portkey. Here," he said, handing Harry a small amulet. "this portkey can take you to the island any time you want. You just have to say 'Potter Farm' if you wish to return, you just have to say 'Return', and you will be portkeyed to the last place you activated your portkey."

"I see. I think all my questions were answered. Could you please get me the ledger you spoke me about earlier?"

Goldsmelter nodded and waved his hand over the account folder. Immediately a new book was created, which he promptly handed to the young wizard. "Here you go. You just have to write what you wish to see and the book will show you the requested information. I guess this ends out meeting and I sincerely hope to hear from the famous Potter Wine in the near future, Harry."

Harry grinned. "I'll be sure to send you a bottle of the first harvest I make. It was good to meet you Goldsmelter. I wish you prosperity in all your businesses." he nodded to the goblin, who nodded back. "Likewise, Harry."

As he exited the room, the green-eyed wizard could not help but think that he got off lucky.

.

**Hogwarts, Great Hall**

.

Some hours later, Harry was sitting at the Great Hall, calmly having dinner along with the rest of the staff that did not take some much-needed vacations. He absent-mindedly looked around, seeing Professor McGonagall talking with Professor Sinistra while holding the latest issue of 'Transfiguration Today'. Professor Flitwick was discussing something with Hagrid, the half-giant nodding animatedly. His musings were interrupted by Professor Ve... Septima's observation.

"Awfully calm today, Harry. Looks like you will not face death by Goblin."

The wizard chuckled. "They got pretty pissed once I showed them my memories. Turns out they're not too fond of Dark Magic, and Horcruxes. Things seemed pretty bad before that, though. You do not want to know how scary is to have a circle of armoured goblins around you. Fortunately, all went for the best and I only have to pay for the repairs and help with some things for an expedition." he paused for some moments, trying to decide if he should tell her about his decision. "I'd like to talk to you later, okay?"

His tone of voice was not missed by the Arithmancy teacher. "What's the matter, Harry?" While she couldn't say that she knew him as long as Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley did, this summer with him at Hogwarts gave her some insight into the mystery that was the Harry Potter.

To be honest, she had to admit that death was what made them become acquaintances. If it weren't for the Battle of Hogwarts, she might never have known the person beyond the Boy-Who-Lived.

.

**Flashback: Hogwarts, random balcony on the third floor.**

.

Septima Vector wandered through the walkways randomly. Two weeks ago, she was part of the Battle of Hogwarts, where the Death Eaters were defeated and Voldermort finally destroyed. Two weeks had past, and Septima Vector still had problems sleeping.

Most of the people had taken to celebrate the end of the war. During the first week after the battle, both students and staff had taken it upon themselves to repair the damage done to the castle. For one week, they worked like bees to restore Hogwarts, in an effort to show the best face to the world in the ceremony that stated clearly to the world that the war was over.

She didn't have the heart to participate in the parties. Instead, she took upon herself to walk the floors, trying to recall small events form happier times, when she was just a student or a young Arithmancy teacher.

It was then that she noticed that somebody else was not partying at all. At first glance, it seemed to be a seventh year, the trimming of his robes denouncing him as a Gryffindor. She moved toward the balcony, before clearing her throat. "It is unusual to see a student out here when everybody else is partying..."

The boy seemed slightly startled, as he quickly turned his head, his hand disappearing under the sleeve of his robes. His movements were cut short as he recognized the professor.

"Oh, Professor Vector." he said, taking his hand off his sleeve and lowering his arms, visibly relieved. "No, I don't feel like partying..."

She eyed him carefully. His forehead showed the scar that marked him as the boy of the moment. Harry Potter. His green eyes were somewhat haunted. She was an Arithmancy teacher, but she also had a knack to read the students' body language. "Can't forget what happened, too?"

He just nodded. "I don't think I can move on yet." he turned his back once again, watching the Forbidden Island far away. She approached him, resting her elbows on the stone wall.

Time passed, as the sun gradually dropped to the horizon. They didn't move or speak until dinner came. To them, the simple presence of one was enough to forget their problems for a bit.

.

**Flashback ends**

.

Since that day, the balcony became some kind of common ground to them. During the whole summer, they sought each out there, talking or just observing the surroundings. It was... an unusual friendship, but a friendship nonetheless. She had to admit that Harry was nothing like she imagined him. He had a rather thick shell, hiding inside it when it came to communicate with others, especially teachers. Of course, she needed no proof of his bravery, but it surprised her how someone who could face death without blinking could shy away so much when faced with a casual conversation.

Eventually, she managed to break the ice enough so he could be comfortable around her, and treat her by her first name, although he usually slipped, much to her amusement. They had many great conversations that summer, and surprisingly, she found out that she wanted the holidays to last a few more days or weeks. Alas, that was not to be. September 1st was one week away, and Harry would move out before the start of the new term. He felt that he was not ready to meet the crowds, at least not yet.

A hour or so later, she met Harry in the usual balcony. He greeted her with a smile, and waited for her to take her usual spot, sitting in one of the stone benches placed there. For some minutes, they stood there, in the comfortable silence that suited them so well.

"I'm leaving soon." he said, breaking the silence. She turned her head, secretly dreading this moment, but understanding his reasoning nonetheless. "You found a home, then?" she asked with what she hoped to be a cheerful voice. She failed, hard.

He nodded. "Turns out that my family has some places to stay. I chose a farm. Imagine the face of people when they hear the Boy-Who-Lived decided to make some wine."

She laughed heartily, picturing Harry stomping on grapes in a tank like the ones she saw at her grandfather's cellar. "Good luck with that Harry, but what about your NEWTS?"

The boy sighed. "There is a small station nearby that allows me to take my NEWTS there for evaluation. I'll take that chance to learn some advances Defense Against the Dark Arts and, well, the secrets of wine brewing." he chuckled. "The fact that there is some ruins there that Gringotts wishes to explore also helps, but what moves me is mostly the wine. I'm eager to grow something, don't know why." They both chuckled. Harry Potter, turning into an Herbologist in the future?

"I'm going to miss you... I mean, our conversations, you know?" Septima said, playing with a lock of her long, black hair.

"So do I Septima. Speaking of which, I have something for you." he handed her an envelope. "Don't open it now. If one day you find out that you need a long, nice break from all, this, then open that envelope. I'm not telling you nothing else about it, though."

She chuckled. "You're cruel Harry. But I'll follow your advice. This better be good, though."

"It is, trust me." Harry replied with a confident voice. "I guess I have to start packing my stuff. See you tomorrow at breakfast?"

"Sure. See you tomorrow, Harry."

.

**The next day, Hogwarts Main Entrance**

.

"Well, this is it, then", the green-eyed wizard said, as he hugged everyone that showed up to watch his departure, ending in Septima. "Don't forget about the letter, okay?" he said to her, his green eyes shining with mirth.

To the Arithmancy teacher, this was refreshing, seeing his green eyes lively again. "I won't Harry, I won't." she whispered, as he grabbed his trunk and activated his portkey with a cry of "Potter Farm!"

.

**Potter Farm Entrance**

.

Harry promptly fell to the floor upon arrival. 'Nothing new there. I hate portkeys', he mused. Only then he noticed the rather surprised group of men on the road, facing him. "Err, hello?" he said sheepishly, getting to his feet and dusting off the dirt from his clothes.

The men looked among themselves before one of them advances, extending one hand to greet Harry. "Hello, you look like a new face here. May we know your name, stranger?" he asked politely.

The green-eyed wizard quickly checked the man. He was fairly nondescript, with brown hair and eyes and a pleasant face. His posture did not suggest aggression. Still, Harry could feel that there was more than met the eye. "Harry Potter. My name is Harry Potter. And yours?"

The man seemed to stammer a bit, obviously embarrassed with something. Harry stared at the man, suspicious of the reasons that could create such a reaction. The tension however, was soon lifted as one of the man of the group shouted "Oi, Hexior, get on with it!", eliciting laughs from the rest of the group.

Hexior shook his head. "I hate that guy! Okay, my name is Hexior Bitzof Merlose. No jokes, please, and call me either Hex or Merlose."

Harry nodded. "That's an... interesting name, Mr. Merlose."

"My godfather, bless him, had a... fertile imagination. Anyway, Mr. Potter, I'm in charge of managing the police teams on this island. I'd like to welcome you to our island, as Gringotts already told us you would be taking charge of your family's farm. We were not expecting to find you while on patrol, though."

"Believe me, I know about imaginative godparents." Harry chuckled. "Anyway, I'll be showing up around town later, so I believe we could talk then, instead of being here taking your time while on duty?"

The officer nodded. "Fair enough Mr. Potter. I'm usually around the main square, so I'll be easy to find. Have a nice day!"

Harry watched as the rather noise group of guards resumed their patrol, while wondering what were the reasons for them to do patrols, especially since few people seemed even to know about the island. Shaking his head, he grabbed his trunk, entering his family's property. He felt the tingel of magic once he entered, indicating that the stasis had been broken. Immediately, a pair of house elves appeared before him, wearing what seemed to be butler suits, the only difference between them being that the female elf wore a knee-length skirt. "Master Harry", they greeted, bowing deeply.

The wizard fought his urge to hit his hear on the nearby object. Sometimes, the nature of house elves drove him crazy. "Good morning, both of you. May I know your names?"

The male elf bowed again. "Of course, Master. I'm Spark and my companion is Tilly."

Harry sighed. "Nice to meet you, Spark and Tilly. First thing: do not bow to be the whole time, please. You can do it if I ask you something. Second thing: Call me Harry if there isn't someone else that we don't know at home. Listen, I know you don't like it, but I don't feel too eager on being addressed as a slave master, okay."

Both elves nodded with sad expressions. Harry's lips curled into a comforting smile, as he got on his knees and rested a reassuring hand on their shoulders. "Now, not those faces, please. You did nothing wrong, and I'm sure you are good elves." their faces seemed to light with joy at their master's praise. "Now, could you help me and show me the place, please?"

Both elves nodded with enthusiasm, as Tilly went for the trunk. "Ma-Harry, Tilly will be taking this to your bedroom." she said, receiving a nod and a smile from Harry before popping away.

"Harry, I will show you the grounds, and then we will see about your living arrangements. Tilly will be getting some food and prepare lunch for you, so you don't have to worry about that, sir."

"Thank you Spark. Shall we being, then?" inquired Harry, impressed at how articulate was the elf's speech, a far cry from Dobby's enthusiastic garbling.

"At once, Harry. Please follow me, I'll start by the wine cellar..."

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><p><strong>So, yeah, Hexior Bitzof Merlose... lame pun, I know.<strong>

**Anyway, this is the start of a new life for Harry. Harry Potter, farmer. Do you think this is going to last? Stay tuned!**

**Arri... Arriver... Oh, see you soon (I think)!**


	3. Time goes on

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter**

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><p><strong>Potter Farm, Living Room<strong>

**.**

Two months have passed since Harry arrived at Potter Farm. The expedition team had arrived as well, and the time they were taking was worrying both Merlose and Harry.

"Hey, Spark, any news on the expedition team?" asked the young wizard. The team's last report was on the entrance of the mysterious ruins that were part of the island. That was a week ago. The house elf shook his head in denial.

On the seat next to Harry, Merlose frowned. "That is worrying. Those ruins do not have any special protection that prevents them from sending reports outside. I've gone there a few times."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You know, you never told me why do you have teams patrolling the outer roads. Does that have anything to do with the ruins?"

The officer downed his glass of Firewhiskey. "Yes. In this island, the stories about monsters coming out from places of the past are way too real. We've had an undead infestation two years ago. Went in there and wiped some streets in. We never dared to go too far, though. We've... heard and seen things... Can you believe there are walking suits of armour there? Dullahans... we'd need to bring some decent firepower there, not just the regular equipment." The man shivered at the thought. "I sincerely hope they did not run into those guys."

**.**

**Island Ruins, Town Centre**

**. **

The wizard ran through the empty streets, his steps echoing in an eerie way in the still air. Behind him, he could hear the groans of those... creatures.

His team was exploring a cave when they were ambushed by birds with human faces. One of them never left the room, being turned to stone by the bird's gaze.

The rest of them proceeded to get out of there as fast as they could, dodging the zombies that weren't previously there. Slowly but surely, the group was cut down one by one, until only one person remained, running to warn the world about what happened.

He descended through the stairs, skipping steps in an effort to go faster, his breath ragged from the effort and his legs on fire. Still, he pressed on. He could not afford to stop for rest. Most of his equipment was lost anyway, dropped in his run for survival. The only things that remained in his possession were his diary and his wand, clutched in his hand like it was his last lifeline.

He turned a corner, dodging a sword strike from an armoured skeleton. He could see a hole in the wall. A hole for freedom. A hole for survival.

But alas, that was not to happen. As he ran the last stretch of terrain that would allow him to jump to the outside of the walls, an axe caught his neck from behind, beheading the last survivor of the expedition team.

However, a joke of destiny assured that the world knew about the face of those wizards and witches. The momentum from his run dictated that the severed head would fly through the opening, triggering the entrance wards and notifying the security forces of the island.

**.**

**Potter Farm, Living Room**

**.**

Merlose jumped to his feet, rummaging through his pockets, searching for something. He finally recovered a silver amulet, currently shining orange. "Somebody got out." he said, running to the coat rack and grabbing his coat. "Let's check it out, Harry!"

The boy promptly took a coat of his own. "Spark, please be ready to pop there if I need you, okay?" he requested, before following the older wizard through the door.

The trip to the ruins was tense. Merlose was silent, concentrated in driving his van through the rocky road. Harry, riding shotgun, nervously checked the ammo clip of his handgun, idly wondering if he would need to use it.

After some twenty minutes, they finally arrived at the ruins. Merlose all but jumped out of the van, frantically looking around, looking for someone. Harry, pulling the safety of his gun, carefully stepped out of the vehicle, eyeing his surroundings, the lessons from Alastor Moody coming to his mind.

After a few minutes of frantic searching, the green-eyed wizard spotted a strange lump on the ground. "Hex, I found something here!" he called.

Hexior's head turned in the direction of the boy. "What? What did you found?" he asked frantically, as he approached him. Harry was kneeling on the ground, his body hiding the object from the officer.

"Just a head..." Harry said, looking to the ruins. "A full team, and the only thing that returns here is a head. What the _fuck_ happened there_?_"

The elder wizard shook his head, eyeing the ruins. "We may never know that, Harry."

Just as they were looking at the ancient walls, the Dullahan showed up on the other side of the hole, seemingly staring at them. Both wizards went for their wands, blasting the spot with _Bombarda_ spells. The rocks around the hole flew through the air, but the animated piece of armour was long gone by then.

Shaking his head, Merlose conjured a wooden box and placed the head inside. "Let's get back and report this to the goblins. There's not much we can do now, apart from that. Exploring is a dangerous business. Things like these happen every now and then... of course, they usually deal with more traps than... dark beings, but they knew what they were getting into."

Harry shook his head. "I know that, but still..."

"It is not our fault. I've always said that an exploration team would need significant fire-power to explore this ruins. My ancestors went inside several times, and I still remember my grandfather telling me about the horrors they found inside. If my blood chills just by seeing a Dullahan, I can't even start to think about my reaction if I saw some of the nastier things there."

Shaking his head, the boy grudgingly returned to the vehicle, while his older friend placed the box in the trunk. In their minds, similar questions were floating: What happened there?

**.**

**Five Years Later, Hogwarts**

**.**

She felt dead inside. Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts five years ago, everything in that castle seemed to make her remember the bodies of her students. How many possibilities to recover the wizarding Britain were lost to the madness of Voldemort? Still, it was the bravery of all the students that saved the wizarding world in that fateful day, where Harry Potter finally brought the demise of the Dark Lord.

She wondered how was he doing. She recalled a particular conversation they had on that summer. "Let Neville, Ron, Hermione and the other appreciate it... to quote Churchill: 'This was their finest hour.' Let them reap the rewards. Let them be famous and happy. Let them change the world. My job is done." He had seen death so close... so many times. He seemed to be tired of being a hero. He never wanted to be a hero.

And now she understood what he felt. The empty feeling that came from surviving while others died. And she knew... she knew that he, too, saw that she was like that for a long time. She realized then the reason why he left her that letter.

"Well, I guess it is time to open it, then." she sighed, opening the drawer where she reverently kept the closed letter. She anxiously took the letter from the envelope, noticing there was a small necklace attached to it with a sticking charm. A _Finite_ later, she finally opened the letter that was closed for the past five years.

_Dear Septima,_

_If you're reading this, then you finally got too tired of staring at the walls of Hogwarts and remembering the past. I wonder how long could you hold out. In that point, you were always tougher than me. But I digress._

_The small necklace attached to the letter is a portkey. If you wish to take a time off from the world, you just have to sat 'Potter Farm' to activate it. You'll always be welcome here._

The Arithmancy teacher grabbed the necklace, thinking about Harry's invitation... for about five seconds. With a skip on her step, she started her formal resignation from Hogwarts.

**.**

**Island of Nowhere, Learning Hall**

**.**

"It is with the greatest joy that, in the name of the International Confederation of Wizards, declare Harry James Potter a fully fledged Master of Defense Against the Dark Arts!" the elderly wizard said, handing Harry a scroll that formally stated his Mastery, much to the applaud of the inhabitants of the island that had amassed there to see the ceremony. Harry bowed respectfully to the aged wizard, before turning and joining his friends from the Island Patrol.

"Harry! Or should I say Master Harry?" Merlose teased the green-eyed wizard, who grinned evilly at the teasing. "Oh, then that means I'd have to call you Master Hexior as well, right?"

Hex grumbled something about cheeky brats in response, much to the laughter of the entire Patrol. "Come on, the pub awaits us!"

Hours later, Harry stumbled out of the pub, holding a very much drunk Merlose. "And, remember Harry. Tab A goes to Slot B! (hic) And never, never mix up names, or else you will be performing maintenance for that night!"

"Yes, yes. Now get into the car, John will drive you home, you bloody drunk!" Harry said, snorting at the man's lewd comments.

"But you have so much to learn Harry! (hic) You won't be a virgin forever!"

"And you are too drunk to teach! Now get your arse on the car before I call your wife!" Harry said sternly, eliciting a yelp from the man, who entered the vehicle without another complaint. Using Sophie Merlose as a threat was a sure-fire way to get the officer to behave.

Shaking his head, the young man walked down the street, taking the road to return home after a day off from his farm and DADA studying. Had it been five years already? He felt like he arrived only yesterday... So much had happened since then: his NEWTS, joining the Island Patrol, the obligatory monster outbreak... he shuddered at the last one. A group of lizardmen managed to get out of the ruins and raided several houses on the outskirts of the town. He was patrolling at the time and the two groups has a small but bloody skirmish on that place. When he was done, there were body parts and dead lizards everywhere. It was pretty much his first combat experience there, and he saw first hand the effect of 'shock and awe' that the Muggle weapons he learned to use there had on his enemies.

His mind, however, quickly ceased his thoughts as he saw a familiar figure near the Farm's gates. He was now wondering if it was really her that was there, or it was just an effect of the drinks. His questions were quickly answered as she turned around, revealing the face of his friend. "Septima!" he shouted, laughing fondly as he ran towards her, receiving a tight hug from the raven-haired former teacher.

"Harry, good to see you again. You sure have changed since then." she stated, checking him out. He smiled sheepishly, breaking the hug and scratching the back of his head. "This place has been good to me. You haven't changed, though. Sorry for making you wait here, had a big party at the town." he raised the scroll.

"Don't worry about that, I've just arrived. That scroll.. did you get a mastery?" she asked, a grin spreading across her features.

Harry nodded enthusiastically "Yep. But let's get inside, it's almost time for dinner. I'll tell you everything then, okay?"

**.**

**Potter Farm, Kitchen**

**.**

"No way. Was he that drunk?" Septima said, trying to control her laughs regarding Harry's last birthday party.

"Believe me, that is one event that makes me want to Obliviate myself at times. A pole dance made by a drunk old man is just wrong." he said, shuddering at the thought. "It's as wrong as..." his expression turned dark. "... never mind."

Vector had seen that expression before. She recalled he only got like that when something really bad happened. "Harry, I know that face. What happened?"

Harry sighed, shaking his head. "Remember the Gringotts expedition? Well, they came and went to explore the ruins... The only thing that came out was the head of one of them."

Septima cringed at the mental image. "Is it that bad inside?"

"Let's just say that Merlose does not dare to go too far inside without decent fire-power. You know about some beasts from myth? They're way too real here. We killed a bunch of Lizardman the other day."

"How did Gringotts react to the news that their team was lost?"

Harry shook his head. "They got a nasty surprise when they saw my memories of the event. Do you know about those animated suits of armour from Irish legend? They're real, only they do not have a body. How do you kill something that has no body? Merlose and I have been cracking our heads trying to find an answer to that. A theoretical answer, mind you."

"I assume the gun closet I saw is part of your attempt to find that answer?" Septima asked, still trying to come to terms with Harry's story.

"Yes and no. I keep some nasty stuff there, yes, but that closet is there mostly to keep the standard Patrol weaponry there. Turns out that killing stuff with bullets and cold steel is a viable option to wand waving. We're not casting Jelly-Legs Jinxes, too, so deadly force is pretty much a base requirement."

The raven-haired witch rubbed the tip of her nose with the back of her hand, obviously thinking about something. After a few moment of silence, she asked the question that seemed to be bugging her since the beginning of the whole tale. "Who built those ruins, and why are they crawling with monsters, anyway?"

The young wizard sighed. "It is said that the ruins were build by ancient people with a understanding of certain types of magic. Apparently, that magic, somehow, went wrong, leaving the ruins on their current state and pretty much creating the beast. Don't ask how, I'm just giving you the short version of Hex's explanation, since he's pretty much the expert on those matters. When the first people arrived here, they explored the ruin and got a nasty surprise, so they just warded it to warn the head of the Island Patrol for entries and exits. The Island Patrol was created to handle the monster sorties and occasionally enter the outer part of the ruins and... reduce their numbers."

"I see. But let's change the subject: what about your wine?"

Harry sketched a smile at Septima's question. "Almost there. I guess this year's harvest will be good enough to bottle it as a Potter Farm wine. These last years have been decent, too but they lacked a little something, according to President Goldsmelter."

The former Arithmancy teacher looked at the young wizard. "Never thought you would be able to speak about it like it was something common. You've become quite the wine connoisseur, Harry." she said, winking at the young man.

Harry blushed at the woman's antics. "I had to learn a thing or two, and Goldsmelter is also very knowledgeable on the subject.

"Yeah, but you're the one doing the growing. It's good to know you're doing what you wanted to do." she said, amused with his reaction.

"Yeah, it feels great to get my hands dirty while tending the vines, and I just have to keep an eye for plagues and birds. Left me lots of time for studying and the Mastery, too. Of course, September is a busy month, with the harvesting. The first year I made the harvest, I forgot that the wine can brew quite fast, and filled the tubs too much... let's just say that the results were not amusing. The fact that I spent too much time in the cellar did not help either."

Septima snorted. "Let me guess, you smelled too much alcohol, killer headache."

The man nodded. "Yeah, not amusing waking the next that with what roughly equated to a hangover."

"I was about to say you can't get drunk with that, but you have a knack to redefine 'impossible', Harry."

"Oh, thank you for reminding me I'm Fate's middle finger." grumbled Harry, giving her a mock glare. She gave him a grin in return. "Why, you're welcome."

He slammed his head on the table, grumbling something about 'cheeky minxes'. Septima couldn't help but crack a full blown laugh until tear filled her eyes and she had to stop to get some air. "Oh Harry, you're still so easy to pick on."

He gave her another mock glare. "You done having fun at my expense?"

She giggled. "No."

The green-eyed Master filled his spoon with ice cream, which he proceeded to fling at Vector. Said ice cream hit her right in the nose, ceasing her giggling... for about a tenth of a second, before she decided to return fire. In the space of two seconds, the conversation had turned into an ice-cream flinging competition, with the two rather immature wizards transforming the room and themselves into a mess of ice-cream and giggles. Eventually, a slightly miffed Spark decided to end their fun by vanishing the ice-cream from the room, eliciting a moment of deep thought on the minds of the two wizards.

Which only lasted for a second or so, before both of them got up to their feet, laughing like they lost their marbles somewhere in the way.

"I haven't had this much fun in years!" said the former teacher, wiping the tears of mirth from her face. Harry nodded, mimicking her actions. "Me neither. Thanks for coming today Septima. I guess I'll get a bath now, the ice-cream is starting to melt."

"Yeah, same here. Do you have a spare bathroom?"

"Your bedroom is upstairs, third door to the left. You have a bathroom there." Harry said, climbing the stairs. "Oh, and Septima?"

"Yes?"

Harry gave the woman a warm smile. "I really meant it when I thanked you for coming."

* * *

><p><strong>And Septima is back with Harry!<strong>

**Also, related to my stories, I created a forum where you can ask me about backstory details that I may not mention in the stories.**

**The address is forum . fanfiction . net/ forum/ Ask_Away_Harry_Potter_version/ 99328/ (remove the spaces)**

**See ya!**


	4. A New Plan

**Disclaimer still applies, you know the drill, which by now should be a fully fledged tunneller.**

* * *

><p>Septima Vector was having a lot of fun. Ever since she arrived at Potter Farm, a month ago, she seemed to find something new to do everyday, either with Harry or by herself. It was now mid-August, which mean the duo was starting to handle things on the wine cellar, cleaning and checking the various tubes for cracks on the old wood. Of course, the charms that ensured the tubes were on a good condition were still there, but better safe than sorry.<p>

Their inspection was interrupted by Spark, who popped into the cellar. "Harry, President Goldsmelter is here to see you."

The green-eyed wizard nodded. "All right then, we'll be there shortly. Please make sure he is comfortable." The house elf silently nodded and popped out, returning to the manor.

Septima placed the mallet back in the tool box and cleaned her hands with a rag. "So, I guess we will know what the goblins want to do regarding the ruins, right?"

Harry shook his head. "Seems so. I wonder why did they take so long to do something. It isn't very... goblin. Time is money, and all that."

The pair left the cellar and walked through the cobblestone path, Harry checking carefully the closest canopies, trying to spot any problems. Fortunately, everything looked fine, and the young man once again returned to his musings about the goblins. 'Why would they take so long to make a decision? Are they having second thoughts about the exploration? Why? Why would they send such a big team, then take five years to decide if they should send somebody else?'

Further questions were interrupted by their arrival at the manor, as Septima nudged Harry just before they entered the living room, where Goldsmelter awaited them. "Harry, we're here already." she said, trying to bring him back to the real world.

"Thanks for the warning, my mind was somewhere else. Shall we?" he asked, opening the door. Goldsmelter was sitting on a couch, calmly sipping a cup of tea. Noticing the newcomers, he nodded with his head and placed the cup on the small coffee table. "Harry, good to see you. I hope I did not interrupt something important, but I had to talk to you."

Harry gave a small bow. "President Goldsmelter. No problems, I was just cleaning the tubes for the next harvest. I assume this has something to do with the ruins?"

The goblin nodded. "Indeed. We took the question to the Goblin High Council, and found out those ruins are a kind of a delicate situation there. There are few things we goblins fear... I think you understand what I mean. I checked some ancients manuscripts and found out an ancient goblin clan tried to check them once, long before the people settled here permanently. A hundred goblins went in, none came out. Suffice to say, no goblin dared to think about setting foot there, until we came along. That's what I came, to ask for your opinion on a plan we made."

Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. "You have good reasons to fear the place, but I think I'm not the best person to advise you on plans for exploration. I do know someone who can say something. Do you mind if I call him?"

The goblin grinned and eagerly nodded, something that made him look even more feral than usual. Harry managed to suppress a shudder as he walked to the fireplace and threw a handful of Floo into the fire, sticking his head in the green flames. A minute or so later, Harry stood back and let Merlose enter the room.

"President Goldsmelter, this is Hexior Merlose, chief of the Island Patrol. He knows a lot about the ruins, so I guess he is the best person to ask for advice. Hex, this is President Goldsmelter, Head Goblin of Gringotts. He came here to talk about the ruins."

Hexior nodded. "I see. Good afternoon, President Goldsmelter."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Merlose. I was speaking with Harry about the new plan we had to explore the ruins located here. We realized that sending big groups there for long periods of time is foolish."

The officer shook his head in denial "It is not the size of the group that makes the problem. To be honest, wand waving in those ruins is foolish, and your cursebreakers seemed to rely solely on wands."

The goblin leaned forward, showing great interest on Merlose's insights into the situation. "I see. Our plan was to create a small team, from four to six elements, and make some small incursions, about a day or so, just to get in, map the area and find useful things. Do you think it can be done?"

"Hmm..." the wizard muttered. "Yes, as long as the team does not stay inside for the night, I think their chances of survival aren't that bad."

Everybody in the room noticed he said 'chances of survival' instead of 'chances of success', but chose not to mention it.

Merlose, however, was not done. "Of course, I'd have to advise you that the team would be heavily armed. Harry, do you think we could give him a demonstration of what that means? Timmy would be an excellent target."

The young Master nodded. "I guess we could do that. Just give me a moment. Could you please get the van ready?" he asked, walking to the gun closet and tapping it with his wand. The doors opened silently, revealing the magically expanded interior, filled with weapons ranging from handguns and rifles to, strangely enough, bastard swords and battle axes.

Septima, being the first time she saw the inside of that particular piece of furniture, stared at the young man, jaw glued to the floor. "You said you kept some nasty stuff there, but I see that was an understatement." she managed to say, eyeing the veritable arsenal at the wizard's reach.

Goldsmelter, on the other hand, looked like a kid in a candy store. "I didn't know you embraced Muggle warfare that much, Harry."

The green-eyed wizard smiled sheepishly. "Well, as Merlose said, things here usually require us to get them with cold hard steel." he turned his attention to the closet once again, searching for something. "Ah, here it is," he said, pulling a scoped rifle and some ammunition clips. "AS50, anti-materiel rifle, .50."

The former Arithmancy teacher almost spat her tea. "Anti-materiel? That's the answer you and Hex found? Bloody hell!"

Harry grinned evilly. "We support the concept of 'More Dakka', as long as it fits into our budget. You should have seen our first idea. Chunks of armour everywhere, but the costs were too high."

The raven-haired woman stared at her friend. "Tell me you didn't use a bazooka."

"I could tell you that, but I'd be lying through my teeth." he replied cheekily, much to the consternation of the witch. He slung the rifle across his back and placed the clips on his belt before closing his weapons storage. "Shall we? Hex should be waiting for us in the van." he said, walking towards the front door.

**.**

**Island Ruins, Entrance**

**. **

Harry was the first to exit the vehicle, watching the surroundings for possible threats. The wards should warn the group that something got in or out, but better safe than sorry. Fortunately everything seemed safe, and the group was finally able to relax.

"Well, our... weapons testing facility is nearby. Just follow me." Hexior said, much to the amusement of Harry at the mention of 'weapons testing facility'. In fact, said testing facility was nothing more than a simple concrete guard tower with an opening towards the very same hole that both officers saw five years ago. The group followed Hexior for several minutes, until they reached the grey tower and climbed the steps to the main room. Septima and Goldsmelter looked at each other and at the other two wizards. "So, this is it?"

Merlose shook his head. "Yeah, it is, you know, the Island Patrol is guarding the island on a budget and all that. Harry here is one of our best supporters." he said, much to the consternation of the younger wizard.

"So that's where a part of the investments go to... what is the size of your forces?" asked Goldsmelter, genuinely interested on the strange militia.

"Around fifty people, five patrol groups, give or take." replied Harry. "It is enough... usually. We just keep watch, and attack any monsters that come out."

The goblin nodded, understanding where Harry was getting at. "You've been losing people."

Hexior sighed. "More like retiring. Population has been steadily decreasing. On the last five years, we got what, five people, including Septima?"

The green eyed wizard, nodded distractedly, now mounting his weapon on a bipod. "Yeah, around that." he said, checking the scope's calibration. "Looks like it is good to go." he finally said, after a few minutes. "Now we just need to wait for Timmy."

"You keep referring to this 'Timmy'... I must admit, I am intrigued about the identity of such character." the Gringotts president said, looking towards the hole in the ruins.

The Patrol commander grinned. "Timmy is the name we give to our... 'test subjects'. This one is the... eighth? Harry, which one is this Timmy?"

"The tenth. The eighth was the one that we blew up with the mortar." the other officer replied, eliciting bewildered looks from the only witch in the group. "You are nuts, you know that?" she said, shaking her head. "You don't use a mortar to blow up one guy!"

Hexior and Harry just looked sheepishly at each other. "We know that now, but how did you know that?"

The witch shook her head. "My Grandfather fought in an artillery division during WWII. Why do you think I took up Arithmancy? You can predict some rough flight paths using calculations, although I have to admit I'd need to use mostly Muggle methods to do that."

Both Patrol officers winced at the number of mortar shells spent before they managed to hit their target. "That's... good to know." Hexior mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

Further conversation, however, was quickly interrupted with the appearance of a Timmy. The two wizards grinned to each other, before starting to wave their arms frantically.

"Hey Timmy!"

"Over here!"

"Not that way, rust-head! Oh sorry, I forgot you don't have one!"

"Yeah, that's it, this way!" Hexior grinned, making rude gestures towards the monster. "Harry, do you have it?" he mumbled.

"Almost." the green-eyed wizard said, adjusting his aim towards the chest of the monster. "Got it. Firing." he grinned as he squeezed the trigger. With a loud roar, the rifle fired a shot, who flew true and opened a pair of gaping holes in the metal skin of the monster, as the bullet tenth through the monster. The being fell backwards, the armour plates falling apart as the spells that kept them together came undone.

Harry looked once more through the scope, evaluating the damage. After a minute or so of careful studying, he finally looked towards Merlose. "It works. The second hit was a bit overkill, but I won't complain about that."

The officer grinned. "Awesome. That," he said, turning to the goblin and the witch, which were looking at them fairly amused, "is what we call a Timmy. The proper name would be a Dullahan, a walking suit of armour kept together by magic. Strangely enough, the vital parts of the spell are inscribed in only two of the plates, so a good hit to the chest or the spine armour is a sure kill. Of course, it is easier said than done, they're fast little... okay, not-so-little buggers."

Goldsmelter nodded. "I see you are very knowledgeable about this. Harry, Mr. Merlose, would you like to lead the expedition team? You seem to be the best people for the job, and I guess it would also take some weight off the Patrol, right? Of course, such help would be... handsomely rewarded."

Harry was staring wide-eyed. Merlose was chuckling. "Two birds with one stone, President Goldsmelter? I like that. Not to mention it would be a win/win situation. You can count me in. Harry?"

The green-eyed wizard nodded. "Sure, sounds good to me as well, but how will the other elements be chosen?"

"The selection of the candidates, as well as the team size, will be decided by you. However, I'd like to propose a cursebreaker from Gringotts, if you don't mind training him regarding your weaponry. Bear in mind, though, that this is not certain. I still have to talk with said cursebreaker."

"I wouldn't mind training him, but I hope he had a good head upon his shoulders. Given what we know about the ruins, we can't have people who break easily in the face of danger."

The goblin nodded. "Of course. He is held in high regards be the Egyptian branch, so rest assured he is a good operative."

"Can I join?" asked Septima, surprising everyone.

"Septima?" asked Harry, after picking his figurative jaw from the floor "You sure about this? You'd need training and..."

The witch interrupted him with a smirk. "The rifle is charmed, isn't it?" Harry, not understanding where she was getting at, nodded. "Yeah, cushion charms, weight reduction, the recoil is reduced, not to mention the ammo clips have around five times their normal capacity... where are you getting at?"

Her smirk was now a toothy grin, as she grabbed the rifle and expertly removed the scope. "Watch. Weird Dog." she said, quickly aiming and shooting an unsuspecting Hell Hound out of existence. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted her aim. "Skeleton near the stairs, head." a second later, said skeleton was now missing a head. "... weird winged thingy, chest." she simply said, as she squeezed the trigger for a third time. Once again, her aim was true and the bullet ruined the humanoid's chest. She reassembled the scope and returned the weapon to the bipod, thoughtfully switching the safety on.

Hex was the first to find words to describe the awe the three males were feeling after such display of marksmanship. "You're a bloody crackshot."

"As I said before, my Grandfather served in WWII, and my father is a hunter. I know my way around firearms." she shrugged. "So, can I join?"

Harry shook his head. "If Hex has nothing against, I'd say you're already in."

"Yeah, you're in."

The former Hogwarts Teacher grinned. "Thanks."

President Goldsmelter nodded. "I should make haste and know if my cursebreaker is available, I suppose? How long do you think the training will take?"

The Island Patrol Leader scratched his bearded chin. "Hmmm... If he proves to be a decent shot, I suppose that the training will take one month, and it will allow him to know his way around both firearms and melee weapons. When these guys get close, the last thing you want for a weapon is an empty rifle. Harry, could you see that Septima gets some lessons as well? I doubt she would want to have a sparring with me."

The raven-haired witch couldn't help but notice her friend's wince at the mention of sparring with Merlose. She mentally filed a question about that for later. Was it that bad?

"Yeah, I'll handle that, don't worry. Shall we go now? We pretty are pretty much done with our... demonstration." the wizard said, grabbing the rifle and slinging it across his back after removing the ammunition.

Goldsmelter nodded. "I'd like that, as my time here, sadly, grows short. But before I go, Mr. Merlose, would you be favourable towards the idea of having some goblins aid you in the patrols? I know of several clan brothers that wish to relieve some tension from dealing with finances."

"I'd be grateful for the help President Goldsmelter. The trust you show with your offer honours me greatly." the officer bowed formally.

"Great. Give me a week to make all the arrangements, and rest assured that they will bring their own equipment. Sadly, we don't have firearms, as we favour close combat against honourable foes."

The wizard nodded. "I understand. Still, we are facing beasts here, so the Patrol will supply the needed firearms. I fear that they will be stuck with the shorter ones, as they are easier to handle in combat and I'd wish to keep the famed Goblin ability to quickly manoeuvre on the battlefield."

Goldsmelter grinned toothily. "Now you are honouring goblinkind, Mr. Merlose. It is good to know that a wizard holds our... martial abilities in such high esteem."

"I am merely stating the obvious. Shall we return, then?"

**.**

**Potter Farm, Living Room**

**.**

"I didn't know you could get all formal like that." quipped Harry after the goblin returned to the bank.

Merlose shrugged. "I studied goblin tactics quite a bit. They're very cunning and fight with everything they have, but they have a battle-code of their own. In that respect they aren't that different from samurais or knights. I couldn't help but like their ways."

Harry nodded. "I see. Too bad that wizards tend to treat them as inferior." he still remembered Griphook's betrayal, and despite knowing he wasn't an example of the goblin race, he couldn't help but wonder if things would be different had the wizards treated him with the proper respect.

"Knut for your thoughts?" asked Septima, noticing his face. "You seemed really far away for a moment."

"Nah, just thinking about the way wizards normally treat goblins. How many rebellions could have been avoided if the wizards bothered to actually treat the goblins with some semblance of respect?"

The three wand-users stood silent for a few moments, meditating on the question that was made by Harry. Merlose ended up being the first to have something resembling an answer. "I guess that is one of the wizardkind's many mistakes. You know that as well as I do Harry, you saw one of them as well."

Harry nodded wordlessly. He knew what Hex meant with that. "The best we can do now is to avoid making those same mistakes once again. Goldsmelter is trying to mend relations. Most of the purebloods won't see that, but we aren't part of the asshat wagon."

"That much is true my friend. And now, I must leave, or Sophie will have my head."

The green eyed wizard laughed. "Yeah, you better go."

The older wizard waved as he left the house through the floo connection, Harry and Septima waving back.

"So, Harry" the witch said when the flames returned to their normal colour "want to tell me why you winced when Hex mentioned sparring?"

The young man couldn't help but wince again.

* * *

><p><strong>And another chapter comes out to play! Enjoy!<strong>


	5. Memories and Preparations

**Disclaimer: I own nothing save for the original characters. Enjoy!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Potter Farm, Outside<strong>

**.**

"You've got to do better than that, you know?" Harry asked, parrying another blow from his opponent. Said opponent grunted, jumping backwards and grabbing his training sword with both hands. "Easy for you to say that, you're not getting your arse kicked."

Harry snorted, pressing his sparring partner once again, who swatted the blade aside with his own and slipped through Harry's guard to punch him. Harry quickly dropped his stance and tried to do a sweeping kick, but the other man was having none of it, and jumped to avoid getting thrown to the ground.

"That's more like it!" the young Master grinned, going for an uppercut, who was easily dodged. His training sword was not noticed though, and hit the opponent in the ribs. The man grunted, staggering backwards, but still managing to avoid Harry's next strike.

"How long have they been at this?" asked Septima, approaching Hexior, who was watching the spar with amusement.

"Oh, some fifteen minutes or so? I must admit, President Goldsmelter sure knows how to choose them." the officer shook his head. "Looks like they're done. Oi! You two, enough for today!" he yelled to the fighters, as he sheathed his sword on his back harness."

Vector couldn't help but wince at the sight of Merlose's greatsword. The blade had no tip, looking instead like a sharpened, rectangular metal bar, covered with runes. From her limited knowledge, she could see several arrays, both defensive and offensive. Shrugging, she looked to the outcome of the fight between the other two wizards. Harry had his sword pointed at his opponent's throat, but the fight ended in a draw, as he had a sword pointed at his chest. One step forward, and, with real blades, both fighters would end up dead.

"This seems to be a tie, eh Bill?" Harry asked, lowering his blade and waling towards his fellow officer.

Bill Weasley smiled. "Next step is to actually win against you."

"Yeah, right. Speak to me five years from now."

"Speaking about years... did you never thought about going back?" the redhead asked, grabbing a bottle of water given by his wife.

Harry shrugged. "The farm, the Patrol and the Mastery made me forget about all that. It's not like I don't care, it's just... I've been away for so long, it doesn't come to mind unless the subject comes up. Speaking of which, how's everyone?"

"Well, Hermione and Ron married a few months ago. Ron was planning to join the Aurors, but he ended up training the Chudley Cannons. I don't know how he pulled it, but they're actually starting to resemble a decent Quidditch team. Hermione went to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures . Heard she managed to kick out a few old fossils from there, too."

Harry snorted. "That's Hermione all right, but I think she managed to do what the Ministry was needing for a long time. I sure hope she makes life easier for muggleborns."

"The world is already changing, but people are still asking for you. People know you went away, but they still want to see their saviour, you know? Mom asks for you too, but that's more because she wants to know if you're eating well." Bill said, holding his laughter. Harry couldn't help but smile as well. "You've got to remind me to send them a wine bottle for Christmas."

"I will. By the way, I noticed something while we were sparring. Where did you get that huge scar on your chest, Harry?"

The young Master grimaced. "It happened in the last lizardmen incursion..."

**.**

**Flashback, Outskirts of Nowhere Town**

**.**

Hexior, Harry and the rest of the Island Patrol officers gripped their weapons tightly as they walked through the trees. A large group of lizardmen had been sighted near some houses, and the entrie Patrol force had mobilized to deal with the threat. It was the largest group that left the ruins in one hundred years, so the officers had good reasons to be tense. Harry was constantly checking his weapon, constantly making sure he was ready to fire. So far, they only had to deal with the occasional straggler that came every once in a while and was quickly dispatched in a hail of bullets or sword swipes. This time, it was different.

Lizardmen were already formidable foes, more intelligent and agile than the average zombie. Despite being unable to cast any magic, they were well equipped and fought viciously. That's why the officers weren't taking any chances. They would try to surprise them and wipe them out quickly.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they managed to flank the monsters without being detected. They quickly hid behind every place that allowed them to conceal themselves. Harry hid behind a tall wooden fence and waited for the order to fire, aiming his weapon at one of the lizards. He mentally tried to calm himself down, as he was shaking so much that he couldn't even keep his rifle stable.

"All ready?" Hex asked, trying to make as little notice as possible. "On three. One... Two... Three!"

The entire squad unleashed a barrage of bullets upon the unaware monsters. Some of them fell immediately, hit on vital spots, while others took a little longer to give their last breath, as the bullets bit through their arms and legs first, leaving them ripe for the kill.

However, there was a sizeable amount of beasts left, who used their superior speed to flee form the hailstorm of bullets. Being an area with various houses, they managed to conceal their movements as well as the Patrol officers did in the woods, managing to approach the group.

Merlose, however, was no fool. There was a patch of clear land, limited by a few houses, between both sides, giving the officers some room to come into close combat. As soon as the lizards appeared, Hex drew his greatsword. "Close range, hack them!" he shouted, adjusting his stance and eyeing the opponents.

Harry awkwardly dropped his rifle as soon as its bullets were all spent. He had managed to keep burst fire, and spent the last of the magazine when the beasts appeared on the clear zone. His hands went to the sword that was hanging from his belt, a wide-bladed sword with an elongated grip. While not a true two-handed sword, a bastard sword's grip allowed the user to give two handed blows, allowing him to give heavier blows than the ones that would be expected from a single-handed sword.

Quickly looking around the field, he noticed his friend claimed the first blood of the melee engagement, his strength and the runes on the blade allowing him to completely cut through a lizardman's torso, armour included. This was his typical strategy. Merlose was an experienced fighter, knowing both the strong and weak points of his weapon and reacting accordingly to it, creating a style that allowed the officer to overpower and outsmart his opponent. The beast, now split, fell to the ground, but Hexior was already moving towards another target.

There was no more time to study his friend's battle style, though. A lizardman had decided he would be a good target and ran full stride towards him. Harry, however, had his own share of experience on sword fighting. He jumped back, deflecting the blow from his enemy's polearm and getting closer to him. His closeness allowed him to punch the enemy right on the face, staggering him back. For all the physique, a lizardman's skull was as fragile as a human one, and Harry took full advantage of the face. A flash of steel later, and his blade had pierced his enemy's heart.

He kicked the dead beast away, dislodging his sword, and went to support a fellow officer, a short man wielding a wicked looking morningstar. The young wizard distracted his enemy, noisily charging and distracting the monster for a moment, opening the way for the other man to swing the spiked weapon and bash it on the humanoid's skull, crushing it. The man nodded to the green eyed wizard to thank him, and run towards another beast.

That's when it happened. A cry echoed through the site. A child's cry. Harry looked around, startled. How did a kid manage to slip into this place. As his eyes wandered towards one of the houses limiting the zone from where the lizards came from, his blood chilled on his veins. There were lizards attacking the house!

Not sparing a second to thing, he started running, stepping on a low wall and using it as a springboard to deliver a flying tackle on one of his opponents. Fortunately, they were more concerned about the door that stubbornly endured their attacked than with the battle that was unfolding mere meters away from them. Harry managed to land on one of the beasts, knocking him down. A sickly snap was heard, and the lizard went limp. Apparently, he landed on an irregular stone, snapping his neck.

Only then the other lizard noticed he was now alone. With a snarl, he turned towards the young wizard, brandishing his axe. Harry sidestepped, avoiding the hit, but his opponent was smarter than that, and turned his momentum to perform a shield charge. Harry did not expect this, and that reflected on his guard, which was unable to stop the coming axe. The weapon bit his shoulder, leaving him with a wound that while not very deep, it was enough to be worrying. Sharp pain flooded his senses, and he knew he had to end this fast. Throwing caution to the bushes, he slashed with his sword, opening his opponent's throat. The beast made a gurgling noise and fell to its knees, eyeing the wizard strangely as his lifeblood was falling to the pavement through his now ruined throat.

Harry eyed warily the lizardman for a few more moments, before sitting on the front step of the house and whipping his wand out of the holster to cast a few first-aid charms. After some castings of _Episkey_ and a _Ferula_, he turned towards the much-abused door.

The wood was in a bad state, a few holes already visible, although the main frame was relatively unscathed. He mentally thanked the lizards' lack of knowledge towards doors. Had they concentrated in the main structure, the door would have surely fallen by now. He smiled when he say a little blue eye peering straight at him through one of the holes. "Are the bad monsters gone now?" a little voice asked, wavering. Harry nodded. "Don't worry about them." he said, resting his back against the wall. "I'll be here until they're all away."

The battle itself did not last much longer, as Hexior appeared, cleaning the blood from his blade. He eyed warily the wound on the raven-haired wizard's shoulder. "What happened?"

"Two lizards decided to go for a target that wouldn't fight back, met the business end of my blade. Too bad one of them managed to nick me." Harry said, wincing slightly as he got to his feet.

Merlose sighed. "Glad you managed to spot them. Come on, let's get back and treat that."

Harry nodded tiredly. "Just a moment." He turned towards the door, knocking softly. "You still there? Bad monsters are gone now. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Thanks mister." the little voice replied, before little steps were heard going away from the door. Harry nodded to himself. Mission accomplished. "All right, let's go now. Who'll clean up the spot?"

The Island Patrol leader shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I'll ask some of the guys to return here before dawn. Wouldn't want the kid to have a close encounter with dead bodies, would we?"

**.**

**Back to present**

**.**

"And that's how it went. Got stupid, got wounded." Harry said, shrugging. "Learned a few things since then. I guess next time I'll just put a bullet on their scaly skulls and be done with it."

Hex grinned mischievously. "But chicks dig scars, Harry." The green-eyed wizard just shook his head in amusement. "If I recall, your wife was all but happy from seeing my wound. You keep thinking like that and you'll sleep in the couch for a long time."

The Patrol officer swallowed dry. "Bloody hell, you're right. She almost bit my head off after you returned home."

Fleur, so far merely observing the small group and hearing Harry's tale, couldn't help but chuckle at the grown man's terrified look. "Looks like I have to get a few tips from her then..." she drawled.

"Dear, you're not being serious, right?" Bill asked wearily, seeing the glint on her wife's pretty eyes. "... oh bugger..." he muttered. Harry just grinned like the cat that ate the canary, and mouthed 'whipped' to both man.

Of course, he tempted Fate too much on that one. "Good idea," Vector quipped, "Harry here has a long story of going stupid and getting wounded, I'm sure her advices would help a lot."

Harry whipped his head towards the former Arithmancy teacher, horrified. Of course, the other wizard's responses were obvious. 'Whipped,' they both mouthed, looking thoroughly amused with Harry's expression.

The wizard's humiliation, however, ceased when Spark popped in. "Sir, President Goldsmelter should arrive soon for the briefing."

Harry nodded in response. "All right, let's get ready, then."

**.**

**Potter Farm, Living Room**

**.**

Fifteen minutes later, the four magicals team, Fleur and Goldsmelter were sitting around the coffee table. Merlose cleared his throat before starting his briefing.

"All right, let's begin. Our target are will be the one closest to the west walls, where the entrance is." he circled the area on a rough map with a finger. "The opposition shouldn't be too tough, from what I've seen they're mostly hounds and zombies. However, Timmies like to walk around sometimes, so I suggest we take some heavier weaponry, just in case."

The redhead looked at Hexior. "Uhhh, mind telling us a bit about those opponents?"

"Right, I forgot, sorry. Okay, hounds cover two beasts, Silver Wolves and Hell Hounds." he slipped two pictures to Bill, one of them a normal silver wolf, and the other an orange and black dog with a weird-looking collar. "Hell Hounds can spit fire, so don't get too close... or cast a Flame Freezing Charm before you go medieval on them. Zombies is the codename for your run-of-the-mill Inferi, but some of them can cast spells. Strange, yes, but they're not too tough. I'm hoping to recover some more information about a spell that might help against large numbers of these buggers. Timmies..." he slipped another picture, this time of a Dullahan, "are animates suits of armour. The spells that keep them together are on the chest and spine pieces. They're quite adept at close range combat, so don't think you can whack them out. Family stories say that there was one man that could do it, but I don't want to take any risks. If heavy weaponry isn't available, go for the arms and the legs to incapacitate him for a while, and run like hell. This is the very short story about it."

Bill nodded, taking several notes on a small booklet he always kept with him. Merlose waited until the cursebreaker was done to resume his briefing.

"Main objectives are to map thoroughly this area and..." he seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, before nodding to himself. "there is the chance that rare spellbooks, called 'grimoires' are there. I've read about it on the family books, and I guess they would make our task easier. Speaking of which, I'll make some copies of relevant stuff about the ruins so you can read them between incursions. Any questions?"

Septima nodded. "I have two of them, actually. How will we map the area, and about these spells... any information about them?"

"About the mapping," the Patrol officer fumbled a bit with something on his pocket, before taking out four badges. "fix these on your armour and it will create a map on a special parchment. Regarding your second question... I'm not sure. Information is vague at some points. They seem to have four schools of magic and a elemental system. I do know that there are six elements, so I guess air, earth, fire and water are to be expected."

The raven-haired witch rubbed her chin, trying to remember something related to elements. "Six elements do not fit any elemental theory," she said, "so I'm at a loss about what could be the other two."

Merlose rubbed his forehead, musing about the various theories he made since he read the family tomes. "Given that one of the schools deals with healing spells, maybe Light is one of the mystery elements? If so, then the other is Darkness... they believe in the intent of the spell cast, not the element... we'll only know for sure when we find something there."

Goldsmelter reclined on his chair. "That sounds a lot like some wizarding cultures that Goblins had contact with. Mr. Weasley should understand as well as I do what I mean."

Bill nodded. "Indeed. Egyptian wizards were pretty liberal regarding their spellcraft. They believed that a spell that we would call Dark, if used for justice and within reason, wouldn't weigh down the heart on the Judgement of the Dead. To keep it simple, if the heart is heavier than a feather, and I don't speak on the literal sense, then the deceased is deemed impure and consumed by the Devourer of the Dead. Of course, some scrolls lead us to think that Anubis, god of the dead is a pretty nice fellow regarding the judgement." Everybody chuckled at Bill's last statement.

"So," Harry said, tilting his head, "if there are traps around, we can expect some nasty stuff. Good to know. Anything else, Hex?" seeing that his friend made a gesture indicating that he could go ahead, the green-eyed wizard proceeded to the final part of the briefing. "Equipment. Everybody will use a complete set of reinforced dragonhide armour. Dragonhide is resistant by itself, and with some pieces of lightened steel here and there, we managed to make a pretty durable protection. Regarding weapons, I'd advise us to take an assault rifle, a handgun, ammunition and a melee weapon. Of course, wands should come as well. We have some bottomless backpacks to carry that stuff. I'll take the AS50 as well. If we find a Timmy, and depending on the distance, me or Septima will shoot it down.

Besides all this, a first-aid kit with potions, some water and food, at least for a day should be good. We should enter and exit the ruins on the same day, but just in case... do you have any suggestions? No? All right, let's enjoy the rest of the day, we have work to do tomorrow!"

* * *

><p><strong>Done!<strong>

**Their adventure begins... what will expect them inside?  
><strong>

**I'm accepting suggestions for Septima and Bill's melee weapon. Just make sure it isn't too big. Remember, they might need to use their want in a pinch.**

**Merry Christmas!**


	6. Exploring and Revealing

**Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the original characters, as usual.**

**And here it comes, another chapter!**

* * *

><p>The next morning, as the sun was rising, a group of explorers were taking their bags from the trunk of the van. Hexior was busily checking all the ammo clips for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, much to Harry's annoyance.<p>

"Hex, I checked that yesterday already. You don't need to keep looking at the clips, the bullets won't jump out, okay?"

The officer shrugged. "Just making sure Harry, you know how I am with these things." he said sheepishly.

"Yeah, but you're making me look like an incompetent like that, Hex. Do you really think I'd bring a defective clip?"

"I know you wouldn't but... I have to do something to keep my head busy. I'm going nuts with this mission."

The green-eyed wizard sighed as he helped Septima with her backpack. "I feel the same way, but there's no reason to keep mulling over it. Let's go in, make sure we stay in one piece, recover what we might find interesting, and get out. We won't gain anything from being nervous."

"You know Harry," Bill said, checking the chamber of his handgun, "you feel awfully calm about this. No offence, but it's a bit creepy."

The young Master shook his head. "I spent a long time in a tent hunting Horcruxes, then I had to handle Voldyshorts. I guess I learned to keep my cool around stuff like this. Besides, it's not like we're going in to pick a fight, is it?"

"I guess you're right Harry. Who would tell I'd be taking lessons from the Patrol newbie?" Merlose chuckled.

Harry snorted. "A lot to learn you have, Master Hexior."

"And Master Yoda, you are not." quipped Septima, nudging the raven-haired wizard. "Let's get moving."

"Spoilsport." the young man muttered jokingly. "I'm Master Harry, though. All right then. Hex, lead the way!"

The team entered the ruins through the main gate, a set of double doors wide enough to allow several trucks to enter side by side. Harry idly looked at the giant stones that composed the structure, and wondered how important would the town be to motivate the construction of such gates. He shook his head out of those thoughts. There would be plenty of time to think about it once he returned home. For now, there was a mission to accomplish. Switching the safety on his rifle off, he carefully checked his surroundings, who were quiet for the time being.

"We're in luck," said Merlose, "they seem to be asleep... or whatever they do at night."

"You mean, what they do besides weird noises?" asked Harry.

"Weird noises at night?" Septima asked, waggling her eyebrows. Bill was now smiling as well, eyeing the two officers, who stopped for a second to process the former Arithmancy teacher's comment.

"... Septima," the green eyed-wizard sighed, "get your mind out of the gutter, please. Would sex between zombies be considered necrophilia? Wait, how would zombies... ugh, I'd rather not think about it."

The witch blinked twice, before understanding where Harry was getting at. "Yeah, I guess I should have thought about that first. That would be something mind-scarring."

"Oh, you say that now." the older officer said, checking the inside of an empty house. "I just caught them red-handed." he said, pulling the pin of an incendiary grenade and returning to the group. "I think I'll Obliviate myself of that bit..."

"Septima, you just jinxed it." Harry sighed, checking the street they were about to enter from the corner. "Was it that bad?"

Hexior shuddered. "If it wasn't bad, I'd have take pictures to show the boys back at the HQ, just for some laughs. But a zombie threesome... that is just wrong."

"I agree with that... I'd rather face the Unmanly Tomb again..." Bill muttered.

Everybody else eyed him with interest. "You gotta explain that one, Bill..." Vector said, smiling at the rather... uncommon name. Harry, checking a piece of parchment that was being updated with their cartographic badges, grinned. "Oh yes, there's no way you're getting away without sharing with us that story."

Bill sighed. "All right, all right... We went to explore a tomb once. The guy inside must have been a real sadist, though, since all traps were Castration Curses."

Harry snorted. "Hexing bits off, eh?" he asked, nudging Merlose with his elbow.

The older wizard grunted. "Harry, jokes with my name aren't funny any more. Really, will you use the expression 'hexing bits off' every time anyone mentions the removal of those parts?"

"Uh, hang on a sec, let me think about that." the younger wizard said, shooting a Silver Wolf that had sniffed them. "Yeah, I think I will keep making that joke." he smirked mischievously.

Merlose grunted. "Sometimes you are a right prat, you know? Was that the way you found to Potty train your brain?" he said, catching another wolf with a clean shot on the head.

Harry chuckled. "Five years, and that's the best you come with? Come on Hex, your cursing is better than that."

"Will you two behave or do I have to give you a spanking right in the middle of Zombietown?" Septima hissed, checking for more fiends.

Both patrol officers looked at each other, staring in silence for a few moments before grinning. "Won't you take me to, Zombietown." Hexior sung, in a bad bass voice, "Won't you take me to, ZOOOOMBIETOWN." Harry followed, finishing on an even worse soprano voice.

The former Arithmancy teacher facepalmed. "You two are hopeless. I hoped that a few months would be enough to cope with your madness, but it seems that I was wrong..."

"Face it, you love it, you just don't want to say so." the green-eyed wizard replied with a wink.

"Keep dreaming, Harry. I'll wait until you wake up."

"Ooooh, you got burned, Harry." Bill quipped, smiling at the antics of the trio. "I must admit, cursebreakers are often like this, though. The only difference is that their jokes are usually a lot worse."

"How worse?"

"The 'Your Mother'-kind of worse."

The other three magicals winced in unison. "Ouch."

A few hours later, after a much deserved lunch, the group was making the trip back through another street. Things had gone smoothly so far, with few enemies and plenty of visibility in the distance. They were always ready to act, of course, but their chatter was relaxed and cheerful.

Said chatter, however, quickly ceased as Septima peeked through a window. "Wait. Zombies, three of them." she said, aiming her weapon at the undead. Three muffled bursts later, the beings were on the floor, crumbling to dust. "Funny, I thought only Timmies turned to dust... I don't remember the zombies outside crumbling like this. The wolves went down the same way, though..." she said, turning an inquisitive glance towards Hexior. "Do you know anything about it?"

The Patrol officer nodded. "Did you notice the walls?" the group immediately turned their gazes towards said walls. The Arithmancy teacher, used to quickly process small bits on information in the bigger picture, was the first one to spot what made them so special. "The walls... they have words engraved... I don't recognize the language, though."

Merlose nodded. "That's right... this city has words on every wall, on every street... they called it a Gran Grimoire. That's why the city was split." he frowned slightly, rubbing his hands on some of the inscriptions. "I haven't read further than that, though, so I don't really know what kind of power the 'Gran Grimoire' could channel."

"Well," the redhead sighed, shaking his head, "if the things that call this city home have anything to do with it, I'd risk saying they had a very good reason to split an entire... hang on," he paused, realizing the small detail, "split? Where's the other half?"

Merlose was silent for a few moments. "So close, yet so far..." he finally replied, much to the frustration of Harry. "Hex, that isn't the most enlightening answer. It sounds like it is in another... oh come on, that's Muggle sci-fi!" he said, understanding what his friend was implying.

"Is it, Harry?" Septima looked around, her eyes narrowed in thought. "Their magic is different, that's for sure. We managed to allow things to store more stuff than they could normally hold..."

"I see your point Septima, but we're talking about different dimensions..." Harry muttered. "Even with magic, the simple thought of it..."

"I'd rather fight the beasts in here than to dive on such subjects." Merlose confessed. "And if we bring the Gran Grimoire to the scene... it's like mass destruction waiting to happen. I wondered often why did my ancestor come here... why did he know so much about the magic here... I must say, another dimension was the strangest answer I could dream of."

"Wait, what?"

"Yes Harry, my ancestor came here along with the city. Why she decided to come along with the city is a mystery to me, though. Perhaps she wanted to keep watch?"

"Perhaps she got lost?" asked Bill.

"No. She said quite clearly she came along of her own will..." Hex sighed. "Callo Merlose, what secrets do you still hide in those tomes?" he muttered, eyeing the sky.

"I must say, it makes sense." Septima said, after some moments of silence. "She saw the original city, that's why the books are so detailed on subjects we don't even dream of."

"Yes..." the older Patrol said, before a glint caught his attention. He carefully approached the spot, a small patch of what could have been a garden. A small piece of metal was buried, but strangely enough, rust had not touched the fragment. "Could this..." he whispered to himself, as he grabbed his wand and cast a charm to help him dig up the artefact.

Slowly, the fragment gave way to a short, wide bladed sword made from a metal with a yellowish colour. The man gasped with wonder. "Damascus!"

Septima frowned. "That's a city, what does metal... wait, how?"

"That," Merlose said, carefully grabbing the blade and wrapping it with a cloth, "is a common point both worlds have. The lost technology of Damascus Steel."

"Damascus Steel?" asked Harry. "How's that different from regular steel?"

Bill was the one that answered his question. "Damascus Steel was used to forge swords for a long time... it is said to be more resilient than the steel that was produced at that time, but the way to make it was lost some four hundred years ago."

Harry nodded. "So it is a better metal?"

"No," Hex replied, "current steel is better, but back then, a Damascus weapon was something else. Some say wizards were the ones that made them every once in a while, deceiving Muggle by saying it was just a happy accident. I'll take it with us and have someone check it. The patterns ans the tone may be the same, but I'm curious to know if this Damascus is as good as our Damascus. It feels different, that it does."

"But why would a weapon be buried here?" Septima said, looking at her surroundings. "There's nothing here that might give a hint on where this weapon came from."

Merlose shrugged. "Might have been a fiend that dropped it here. Maybe an inhabitant of the city, back in the time when this was more than a ruin, buried it here. Who knows? The people who could tell anything about it are dead. I'll look for inscriptions on the blade, though."

"Yeah, that's a good plan, but we should hurry, we still have a good distance to cover." the green-eyed wizard interrupted, scanning the surroundings. The other members of the group nodded and quickly resumed their march. Things were still calm, though, and the rest of the trip was as uneventful as it had been all day, with the occasional field serving as target practice, and a sighting of a Timmy on a faraway tower. Suffice to say, Septima was a very happy sharpshooter when they left the ruins, still having plenty of time before the sunset.

**.**

**Potter Farm, Kitchen**

**.**

"Come on Bill, off with you! Go spend some time with Fleur and your daughter while me and Septima handle the dishes."

"Fine, but tomorrow is my turn!" he said, before leaving the kitchen, dodging Harry's thrown towel.

The raven-haired witch chuckled. "Men. You'll always behave like little boys around each other, won't you?"

"Aw, come on Septima, we need to have some fun every once in a while, you know?"

"I'm pretty sure the song has the word Girls, not Boys."

Harry blinked. "I missed that one. Care to explain?"

The witch rolled her eyes. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun?"

"Ah. Never heard of it." he confessed sheepishly.

"Figures."

An awkward silence fell upon the pair, broken only by the sounds of Harry washing the dishes. "Knut for your thoughts?" he asked after a few moments.

The witch sighed. "I'm just thinking about what we heard from Hex."

"The whole dimension thing?" the green-eyed wizard asked softly, turning towards his friend.

The former Arithmancy teacher rubbed her temples. "More like everything. I can't help but think of motives that would lead someone to use an entire city as a magical focus. I'm not questioning if it can be done or not, I'm just wondering about the reasons that let them to do that."

Harry shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe it's like what you said back then, their understanding of magic is different from our own. Maybe it is a protection? We won't know a thing about that unless Hex finds something on his books. I must admit though, I am intrigued about that buried weapon. What are the chances of finding something so similar? I mean, they might have found out about steel, but from what I've got from the explanation, Damascus isn't just an ordinary type of steel." he said, pulling a chair and sitting right across from his raven-haired friend.

Septima blinked, thinking about Harry's words. "That makes sense, yes, but I guess it happens, as long as people follow the same line of thought."

"I suppose you're right, yeah..." he trailed off, before shrugging. There was no use on mulling about it without more data. "So, what did you think of today's trip?"

"Apart from you two maniacs," she grinned at his wince, "it was quite good. I expected something gloomier, but I must admit those ruins have their own charm... at least when we're not killing beasts."

"Or seeing zombies getting frisky."

"You think too much about sex, Harry."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do. And with zombies, to add insult to injury."

"Ugh... you're having too much fun insulting me, don't you?"

"Well... yes." she grinned mischievously, "You keep providing me with the means to make fun of you for the rest of your life."

The young man groaned. "Me and my mouth."

Septima chuckled, patting his hand. "Now, now Harry, don't worry, I won't humiliate you... too much."

He snorted. "I guess I should thank you then, merciful mistress." he said, smiling cheekily.

"You're most welcome, Harry" she replied, trying to keep a straight face... and bursting out laughing at the situation. "That must have been the most ridiculous active I've ever done, you know?"

"I must admit, you wouldn't be able to convince a zombie."

"Why, thank you for your support, Harry."

"Turnabout is fair play, Septima."

"Oh, NOW you're getting all cheeky with me?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Yep," he replied happily. "my revenge is terrible."

The witch snorted. "Revenge? Last time I checked, your revenge with ice cream ended up hitting you more often than me."

"That, my dear, are small details. I will retaliate," he said, a mischievous glint on his eyes, "even though I know you'll beat me up with a rolled paper and get enough blackmail material for five lifetimes. But despite everything, I have a secret weapon!"

"Oh really, what weapon?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My cooking. You can't resist my cooking."

"Oh." Septima scratched the back of his head. "That isn't fair, you know you are the best cook around!"

Harry smiled. "Ah, so you finally admit it! You like my cooking!"

The woman stopped for a few seconds, eyeing the green-eyed wizard with narrowed eyes. "You were having me on, weren't you?"

"Since the frisky zombies comment. Spend five years with Hex and you learn a thing or two about leading conversations. It annoyed him to no end when he realized I was doing that to him instead of the other way around."

"That was very Slytherin of you." Septima said approvingly. "I never noticed your plans all this time."

Harry tilted his head. "The Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I said no." he shrugged. "Now that I look back, it was a good decision, albeit a bit forced."

"Forced?"

"Yeah, I sometimes think it is strange I met so many people that badmouthed Slytherin before I got sorted. Sure, Voldemort came from Slytherin, but it seemed strange that nobody said good things about any houses but Gryffindor. Not that it would have made a difference with the hat, though. After meeting Malfoy at Madam Malkin's, I knew for sure I wouldn't be caught on the same place as that prat..."

"In short, you believe they tried to manipulate you." the witch said, feeling strangely upset at the thought.

Harry nodded. "Right. I've come to terms with that a long time ago. It's in the past, and despite everything, things ended as well as they could. I have no doubt some snake would snuff me in my sleep if I ended up in Slytherin. Or maybe not, but I don't care. Not my job to worry about that any more, you know?"

"You, Harry, are a little box of surprises, you know?"

"You think so? Let me tell you about that time where we entered Slytherin's Common Room during our Second Year, then..."

* * *

><p><strong>The music Hexior and Harry... butchered to fit the whole Zombietown thing is Funkytown, by Lipps Inc.<strong>

**And they just survived their first expedition, along with more details regarding the ruins and Hex's family history. Stay in tune!**

**See ya!**


	7. Relaxing

**Disclaimer: As usual.**

**A bit hard to write this chapter, but I've done it. And managed to pass on my end of semester exam! :)  
><strong>

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><p><strong>.<strong>

**Potter Farm, Living Room**

**.**

The following week after the expedition was dedicated solely to the farm, as the grapes were now ready for the harvest. During that whole week, Harry and the others worked like bees, from sunrise to sunset, anxiously praying that this was the year when the Potter Wine returns to the market after 150 years. Fleur didn't participate, as young Victoire was a very energetic child, and the house elves had to take care of the meals while Harry and the others were on the fields.

"Geez, I think I'll never be able to look at a bottle of wine the same way after this week." said Bill, when they were finally done with it... sort of.

"Well, making wine is an activity for all year. This was just the first step. Now we need to wait for the fermentation, then comes the ageing, and then finally the bottling. Of course, I have to keep an eye on it, or I may end up with barrels of vinegar." Harry said, enumerating the different steps with his fingers.

"All right, all right, I got your point," the redhead chuckled. "anyway, how long do you plan on keeping it ageing?"

"Well, from the notes that my ancestors left behind, it will stay for a while there. I'd say I won't bottle it for... oh at least 3 years. Of course, that's just the main wine. The rosé is going to be bottled next week for sure."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Aren't they all the same type of wine? I don't get why the rosé is bottled first."

"It has to do with the potential. A rosé lacks the potential of the others, since it spends less time in contact with the skin than the other wine. The skin is the part of the grape that holds the potential for ageing, and also defines the tone of the wine. I've been making it since I arrived here, and I have a few costumers that pay well for it."

"But surely it doesn't pay as well as the other wine, right?"

Harry nodded. "Right, but the Potter Wine... this may be the first year I manage to make it, and it still has to age. The rosé is fairly easier to make, since it doesn't have all the nuances, and it still gives a small profit after all the expenses are paid."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "If this is the first year you may be able to make your special wine, what happened with the... 'failed experiments'?"

"Well, they lack something to become a Potter Wine, but they still are good wines, so I can sell them as a lower quality wine... which is still pretty damn good by the regular standard. I call it 'Little Potter'." the green-eyed wizard said.

"So... whatever you do, you end up getting profits out of it?"

"Uhhhh... not quite." Harry admitted, "I'm having profits now, yeah, but the first three years were a loss, since I had to clean things up here and find a market for the regular wines." he seemed to pause for a moment, mentally remembering the meetings he had with several businessmen regarding the commercialization of his wine. "Of course, every once in a while I sold a bottle from the last Potter Wine harvest, but that was only to a very select group of people."

"Who could guess that Harry Potter would become a winemaker?" Bill laughed.

Harry merely smirked. "I couldn't spend the rest of my life living on my defeat of Voldemort. I wanted to do something else, you know. Prove my worth with something that's not a battle foretold by a prophecy."

The former cursebreaker nodded. "And here you are, living on a place far away from the rest of the world."

"How do you know it's far away? The island is unplottable, after all." the younger wizard replied, eliciting a groan from the redhead.

Their conversation, however, would be interrupted by a little blonde piece of energy that just rushed into the room and jumped to her father's lap. Harry grinned at the sight, raising an eyebrow at a smirking Fleur, who subtlety pointed towards the kitchen. The young man, knowing that Septima was currently there, studying his cookbooks. Personally, he didn't know if that would be any good to her, but he decided to wait and see the results by himself.

That, or he would need to clean up the kitchen after she blew things up to kingdom come. He sure hoped it wasn't the case, at least this time.

**.**

**Potter Farm, Kitchen**

**.**

Septima Vector carefully checked the cookbook for the next step, slowly adding the water to the mixture already on the pot.

"Need any help?" asked Harry, somewhere behind her. The woman jumped in surprise, dropping the glass inside the pot. "Harry!" she said, her apron now covered with bits of uncooked food here and there. "You scared me!"

The young man shrugged. "Sorry about that. How are things going?"

"They're not going any more." she huffed, much to the amusement of her friend. Harry peeked inside the pot, turned his gaze towards the cookbook, and chuckled. "Septima, you forgot to add the vegetables first." he said, pointing to the specific line.

"Oh, bugger!" the raven-haired witch cursed, frustrated from another failed attempt. She shook her head, and pulled a chair to sit. Harry shook his head, and decided to sit next to her. The two of them were silent for some moments. "Things like this drive me nuts," she finally said, "everything seems to be going all right, and I always forget to do something."

The former Gryffindor grinned, resting a hand on her shoulder. His grin quickly turned into a frown as he felt her tense muscles. "Hang on a second," he said getting to his feet, "your feel like a rock."

Of all the things Septima could expect from Harry, the last one of them would be a shoulder massage. She didn't complain, though, as she felt him easing the tension that sometimes bothered her so much. "Oh my," she breathed as his hands moved in fluid, confident ways, "who are you and what did you do to Harry? I never knew you could give massages like this!"

He laughed at her surprise. "It's amazing what five years can do to a person, isn't it?" he asked, working on a particular spot that seemed to be the worst offender there.

"Oh, that's the spot." she purred, as she felt her muscles relax. "Thank Merlin for those five years."

"Do you feel better now?" asked Harry, taking his hands off her shoulders.

"Much better," she said, "thanks." What she didn't say, however, was the most important part, as she wished he could keep his hands on her shoulders for a bit longer. She mentally reminded herself they were just friends, and this massage was just one friend helping another... not that she would complain if it had a deeper meaning, though.

"You're welcome." he said, glancing at the watch hung on the kitchen's wall. "I guess I should start preparing the stuff for dinner."

"So soon?"

Harry blinked, before realizing what she meant. "Oh, right, forgot to tell you I'm baking bread on the wood-burning stove today."

The former Arithmancy teacher beamed. "Can I help, please?"

The wizard smiled. "I guess you can knead the dough while I prepare the other stuff for dinner, is that all right with you?"

"It works for me... but uh, I don't know how to knead the dough, though."

"Don't worry about that, I'll show you when the time comes."

Unbeknownst to them, Fleur was watching the whole scene, sending a thumbs-up to her husband, who was keeping their daughter busy. She idly wondered for how long would those two keep running circles around each other, especially Harry, who wasn't the most trusting of people, yet invited her to live with him. Still, things seemed to be going forward, albeit slowly.

Some time later, Harry was preparing the ingredients for the dough, with Septima observing his skilful hands. "All right," he finally said, sprinkling flour to make sure the dough wouldn't stick to the table workplace, "now it's your turn to shine."

She got to his feet and washed her hands on the kitchen sink. "Teach me how to do this, then."

"Okay, I mixed the ingredients, just to make your task easier. Watch me." he then pressed the dough, pushing the dough to stretch it, and then folding it in half. "Easy enough, right? You just have to keep doing it until it becomes elastic. Just keep in mind that you can rotate the dough to knead it in another direction, all right?"

The former teacher nodded, tentatively handling the dough. Harry nodded in approval. "Like that, yes. Just stretch it a little more."

Septima tried again, but this time she overdid it. The wizard, however, chuckled in amusement. "Hang on," he said, "let me help you. May I?" he asked, his hands hovering above hers.

They looked at each other for a few moments, probably musing about the potential awkwardness of the situation, before she smiled. "Go ahead."

Harry grabbed her hands and showed her the right way to do it, although his movements were a bit hampered by his position by her side "See, you can stretch it, just don't overdo it."

"Right," the witch replied, moving her hands slowly, "stretch, but not too much."

The green-eyed wizard smiled. "Yeah, you got it right now. Keep going." he said after (rather hesitantly) releasing her hands. "Hmm, do I have enough..." he mused, turning his attention to the cupboards, searching for something. "Ah, bugger." he muttered, scribbling some things on a piece of parchment. "Spark, could you come here?"

The house elf immediately appeared in the blink of an eye. "Yes sir?"

The young man rechecked the list before answering, nodding to himself. "Could you pop to the town and get me the things on this list?" he asked, handing the parchment to Spark.

The house elf read the list, nodded, and disappeared with a snap of his fingers. Five minutes later, he was back, with two large paper bags floating behind him. "I'm afraid the grocery did not have everything available there, the suppliers only comes next Tuesday."

Harry quickly checked the contents of the bags. "It's all right Spark, everything I need right now is here. Thanks for the help. Did you check the wine?"

"Yes, one of the fermentation vessels for the rosé was a bit strange, but the problem has been solved. I marked it so you could check it out later."

"All right, thanks. You may go now." the winemaker said, rubbing his temples.

"What's the matter, Harry?" asked Septima, noticing a frown on his face.

"Ah, it's nothing special, just that vessel Spark mentioned. I think I know which one it is. Last year it gave me problems as well, and I completely forgot to repair it." he shrugged. "There's nothing I can do now, so I hope it doesn't pull any more tricks on me."

The former Arithmancy teacher stopped her kneading and turned towards him, hands on her waist. "But were the problems serious? Spark seemed to think it was nothing big, so I thought it was just a minor inconvenience."

"Oh, it's nothing serious, more like an annoyance... speaking of which, you do know that the apron doesn't cover the whole waist, right?" he asked, grinning mischievously as Septima realized she had bits of dough on her shirt. "Very funny," she said, eliciting a fit of laughter from the young man, "like you never did anything of the sort." she mumbled.

"Come on, look at the bright side, the dough is ready to go to the oven." he laughed, levitating the mixture to a bread tin, and placing it on the oven. "Now we just wait." he said, taking a cucumber from the paper bag. "Bugger," he cursed, "I forgot to take some of the dough to use."

The witch raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Come again?"

Harry shook his head, washing the cucumber. "Dough from the previous day can be used to replace yeast. It makes things easier."

"Oh, I see. Need my help for anything else?"

"Hmm, no, not really, just relax... or study the cookbook."

"Prat." she said, slapping him playfully on the head on the head

"I know I'm an adorable prat, no need to assure me?" he smirked.

"Who said you were adorable? Spark is adorable, you're just a prat." she retorted, enjoying this little game.

"Oh, woe is me!" he complained dramatically. "The maidenth doth not findeth me adorable...th."

Septima couldn't hold her laughter at his atrocious butchering of the Old English. "Shakespeare you are not."

"I thought Shakespeare was from the Early Modern English era?"

"Ah, Chaucer you are not, then." she hastily corrected, grinning cheekily.

The wizard rolled his eyes and waved the cucumber on his hand playfully. "Know thine author."

"I have a Mastery on Arithmancy, not Literature. And be careful to whom you wave the cucumber, they might think it is an invitation."

Harry stopped for a second, blinked, and finally blushed as he realized what she meant. "Me and my big mouth..." he groaned.

**.**

**Potter Farm, Living Room**

**.**

A few hours later, after a dinner with Hex and Sophie, filled with laughs and stories, the group waited for Fleur to make sure her daughter was peacefully sleeping in her room. It took less than five minutes until the part-Veela rejoined the others, sitting on the loveseat Bill was currently occupying.

Hexior fumbled on his wife's bag, taking a small set of shrunken books that he returned to the normal size. "These books here have some information of the ruins. They're far from complete, since Sophie and I only compiled the information I managed to read so far."

Harry eyed the book, giving a glance of its contents. The book was fairly thick, yes, but that was mostly due to the charts and drawings that appeared often, describing monsters, weapons, rune diagrams and, surprisingly enough, the architecture. Harry was intrigued by this last detail.

"Hex, you went as far as architecture?" he asked, eyeing his friend.

"That's one little thing I'd like to tell you. I found something funny. And useful. Did you know they had a teleporting grid?"

All the people in the room stared at him like he had a second head growing out of his neck. "A teleporting grid? We can apparate, don't forget about that."

"True, true, but you can't apparate inside the ruins. These teleportation circles could help us in our explorations. You could say they work like the floo, add a simple spell and choose your destination. The records also state that the power requirements seemed to have gone down since the city was split."

Fleur checked an illustration of the teleport circle. "Do you think this... 'Gran Grimoire' made the circles use up more magic?"

"Maybe," Bill added, "the Gran Grimoire needed the magic to sustain itself?"

Sophie nodded. "That is a strong possibility," she said, brushing one of her golden coloured locks aside, "I don't think the Grimoire could even be activated, as complex as it is. The magic requirements alone would suck the caster dry."

"Then, that means we could save a lot of time!" said Septima, thinking of the time they could spare that way.

"Err... it's not that simple."

"What do you mean Hex?" Harry asked, leaning forward. "What's the catch?"

"Well," the man replied, "we'd have to recover the Grimoire first. Remember when we had our meeting before we went inside? I talked about a guy who could face Dullahans hand-to-hand and come out of it without breaking a sweat? He wrote the Grimoire for the spell after beating the crap out of a lich."

Bill tilted his head. "Lich? What's a lich? I never heard of it, although the word doesn't sound pleasant to me."

"A lich is..." Hexior trailed off, unsure of how to explain. Sophie, however, did not have such problems, "A lich is a former wizard who stored his soul inside a container, a phylactery, to anchor his soul to this world. I don't know if we have something..."

"Horcruxes." Harry interrupted, grimacing from the torrent of memories that came from Sophie's description. "Voldemort split his soul and stored it in several containers. However, I don't know how different is the way you create them. An horcrux is the result of splitting the soul through murder and then anchoring the soul fragment. It's... a foul magic."

"Wow, you never told me that." Hexior merely said, without showing any trace of disappointment at the fact. "But hearing your explanation, I can't blame you for that, mate."

The green eyed wizard smiled weakly. "Thanks Hex. I don't want to touch on this subject, not even with a ten meter pole. I've had enough of Horcruxes for a life time."

"Yeah, we'd better keep this subject buried. But hey, that means Voldemort was a lich. Or a leech, maybe?"

Bill was confused. "A leech?"

Fleur sighed in frustration, while Sophie whacked her husband in the head. "He sucked." the platinum blond replied.

Bill, Harry and Septima looked at each other, before bursting into laughter. Five years after ending the life of the madman, they finally found the heart to laugh at a joke involving the Dark Lord. And Hexior had to bring the stupidest joke to the table. They laughed hysterically until their chests hurt and tears slipped from their eyes. For the survivors of the Battle of Hogwarts, a joke like this was a way to pay back the suffering the Dark Lord had brought them.

"A leech, Hex. Only you to come out with a pun like that." Harry finally managed to say, wiping the tears of mirth from his face. "A leech.", he squeaked, before starting to laugh again.

Mentally, Merlose pumped a fist in triumph. His friend always got very sombre every time the Dark Lord was mentioned. To see him laughing like this, it was a personal victory for the officer.

And Hexior Merlose liked to win when it came to making others happy.

* * *

><p><strong>And here you go, a chapter for relaxing after the first raid. The second raid should come two or three chapters from now, depending on the ideas that come to my mind.<strong>

**Arri... damn it, still can't get the spelling right!**

***checks google***

**Arrivederci!**


	8. More Memories, More Preparations

**Disclaimer: You know it already, I own nothing apart from Hex, Sophie and Goldsmelter.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Potter Farm, Porch<strong>

**.**

"Septima?"

The former Arithmancy teacher turned towards the source of the sound, finding her friend there, watching her with a concerned expression on his face. "Yes, Harry?"

"You seem distant. You've been that way since you woke up. What's bugging you?" he gently asked, sitting on the chair next to hers.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." she muttered, staring into the distance and nursing the cup of tea she was holding.

"Septima, you do realize I can tell you're lying when you say that, don't you?" he asked, shaking his head sadly at the reminder of the number of times he said 'I'm fine' when he wasn't fine at all.

She sighed, but didn't reply immediately, taking a sip of her tea before she found the courage to reply. "I had a nightmare, that's it." she admitted quietly. She tried to make it sound like a small nuisance, but the tone of her voice betrayed her true feelings.

Harry understood that all too well. "Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I can't... seeing them..." she seemed to lack the proper words to describe her feelings at the moment.

The wizard, however, knew what she was feeling all too well. "I know. I still have nightmares every now and then. It was worse on the month that came after the battle, though." He did not tell her everything, though. No need to make things worse by mentioning the countless nights he woke up drenched on his cold sweat, or the times he drew his wand because he thought the shadows were concealing someone. That was the worst part of that month, walking through the halls of the school feeling like he could be attacked at every corner. He got better, yes, but remembering the sheer terror he felt, and the extent that his paranoia reached, checking even under his bed for Death Eaters, left him with a very grim outlook on the trauma that the war inflicted on the survivors. A Muggle once said that 'War is hell'. Harry couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly with him. War was, indeed, a _fucking hell_.

"You never told me about that." she said, "How do you deal with them?"

"I try to remind myself that there was no way for me to save them all, no matter how hard I tried. Now it's just the nightmares, but for some time after I came here, I had these... episodes." he confessed.

"Episodes? What do you mean?"

"Sometimes there was an idea that came to my mind, and I couldn't help but analyse it time and time again, until I realized that no, that wouldn't work."

"That was... messed up."

The wizard nodded grimly. "Yea... spent a whole year with a Mind Healer to get those ideas out of my head. He said I was lucky that I didn't find a plan that worked, there's no telling on how I would react if I found out there was a way to save them."

Septima nodded. "I can see his point. Compared to you, most of us got off lightly."

Harry laughed ruefully. "'Lightly' is very subjective. That arsehole did plenty of damage to the society in general. I guess some scars will only be gone when the everybody that saw the horrors of this war is dead, preferable from old age. Of course, there's also that big help that is knowing that the Dork Lord's sycophants are now locked on Azkaban until they kick their damned bucket, apart from Malfoy."

"I still can't get my head around the concept of having you standing for Malfoy." the witch said, remembering how the blond Death Eaters gained their freedom due to their defection (and Harry's help) in the end. "I always thought you hated his son."

"Oh, I did. And I don't think I could be near the ferret for long without wanting to punch his face in, but the truth is, I had a debt to Narcissa. That was my chance to repay her. She didn't expect me to remember that, but we talked about it after their trial, and she thanked me for returning the favour."

The former Arithmancy teacher blinked, processing the man's words. "Wait, wait, you owed her? What happened?"

"Oh, it's a not-so-short story. Remember when Hagrid carried me, and Voldemort said I was dead? Well, he only said that because he AK'ed me and asked Narcissa to check if I was dead. She lied to him blatantly. So, I owed her one."

The witch stared at him, her face sporting a disbelieving look. "Hold on a second, he AK'ed you a second time? And you're telling that to me like you were just talking about the weather!" she sighed loudly, pinching her nose. "Sometimes, Harry, you are the most infuriating man I've ever known, you know that?"

He gave a mock salute. "I aim to please."

Septima playfully slapped him on the arm, something made harder by the fact she was trying to prevent the tea from spilling. "Prat!"

**.**

**Merlose Family Home, Studio**

**.**

"Sophie dear, could you give me a second of your time?" asked Hex, rereading a passage of the book he was currently holding.

"Sure thing sweetie, what's the matter?"

"I want you to check this out. I have the feeling this might be important, but I want to hear your opinion first." he explained, as he handed the book.

Sophie read for a few moments, taking notes on the notebook she kept close to her at all times. Hex was right, this was important, but there seemed to be something missing, but what was it? "We need more informations about this." she sighed, returning the book to her husband. "What exactly are those 'elementals', what can they do? For all we know right now, an elemental could be just a simple manifestation of magic. Of course, knowing those ruins, this is just wishful thinking. They'll probably be violent, and if they are, we still don't know how to kill them."

"They're elementals. It's not like we don't know how to kill them, but we may need to find the Grimoires first."

"That much is true," agreed the woman, "but don't forget that the book mentioned that they could be hurt by swords. Maybe firearms can hurt them as well. Anyway, it's not like we can start shooting them like you two did with the Timmies..."

"Yeah, our theories about this will have to be proven in a real situation... I just hope we can defeat them... or at least run away quickly."

"Very wise plan, husband." Sophie purred, leaning forwards with a mischievous grin. "But we both know you don't turn tail and run away, right?"

The wizard closed the book, his face sporting the exact same grin as his wife's. "If I turned back and ran, I wouldn't be married to you now."

She chuckled, remembering every failed attempt at courting her, the slaps she gave him, the times she sent him to the Healer with a nasty combination of hexes... and yet he came back for more. She decided to give him a chance and agreed to have a date with him.

One evening on the cinema was all that took for her to know he was the one. One year after finishing their NEWTs, they married.

That was ten years ago. He became a bit more mature since then... two Masteries, the Patrol, the Island Council, but he never lost that youthful spark that charmed her, something that Harry Potter could confirm.

Harry Potter. Her mind turned towards the raven-haired, green-eyed wizard. Hex and him quickly became friends. She never expected that. Or maybe she did. She could see the signs that those two, despite only knowing each other for a few days, recognized each other as potential brothers-in-arms. Either way, they stuck together like glue and time only made their bonds of friendship grow stronger. Now they were exploring the very reason why the island always had a Merlose around: The Ruins.

As much as she had come to terms with the idea that her husband could get hurt from these explorations, the thought still scared her. However, she also understood why this became so important to him. It was a piece of his family history, something that the books couldn't fully describe. The blade he brought with him in the end of the first expedition was but a piece of the puzzle, something that might shed a light over a part of the bigger mystery.

"Knut for your thoughts?" softly asked Hex, holding her hand.

"I was just thinking... about us... about the ruins... you know, the usual." she replied sheepishly, eliciting a chuckle from the wizard.

"I guess we've been worrying about this for too long already. How about," he said, getting to his feet and hugging her from behind, "a nice breakfast, to recover energies, hmm?"

"With pancakes and raspberry jam?" she asked cutely.

Hex smiled. "And that juice you love." he said.

She freed herself from his embrace, grabbed him by the neck and proceeded to give him a quite passionate kiss. "It's a date... but first, how about a nice bath to compensate for a night of studying?" she asked sultrily.

The officer raised an amused eyebrow. "You know I can't say no when you talk like that, my dear. Lead the way, milady!"

Sophie kissed him again, and promptly dragged him to the bathroom. After all, even after ten years of marriage, they still acted like newly-weds... and she didn't mind it one bit.

**.**

**Potter Farm, Bill's Room**

**.**

"So, it seems that they're not there yet. What's keeping them?" mused Bill, his eyes watching the patterns of colour on the room's ceiling.

"It seems to me," Fleur said slowly, "that time did not heal as many wounds as we hoped."

The redhead sighed, caressing his wife's arm. "Then I guess those wounds will never heal. Then again, maybe we're worrying too much, and those two are just behaving like lovestruck teenagers."

The part-Veela blinked slowly, thinking about Bill's words. "... that makes a lot of sense." she admitted. Raising her head to look at her husband in the eye, she smiled mischievously. "And if it is like you said, then we can just use one of the plans we used for your brother Charlie."

The cursebreaker returned the grin. "I especially liked the 'get him drunk' one. Not that it worked, but it sure was funny as hell."

The blonde chuckled. "That it was, but I was thinking about... the lucky number, you know?"

"Plan Number Seven? That's... a bit extreme, don't you think?"

"The situation requires drastic measures, _mon cher_."

"Let's hope the situation doesn't come to that, then. I don't think we'd survive if they found out we were behind that." he said, knowing that neither Harry nor Septima would find the situation to be funny.

"That's why we should ask Hex and Sophie to help, no?"

'Oh my,' Bill thought, noticing the expression on his wife's face, 'she's with that face again.' He now knew that she would see it to the end. Many people never noticed it, but Veelas always tried to... 'give a little hand' to those people mutually attracted to each other, but that wouldn't confess it without any help. It made sense, when he thought about it. Their allure was something that came from their main instinct: to find, and help others find, true love. Fleur, despite being only part-Veela, had the same instinct. Too bad girls pushed her away because they felt she was a threat to their boyfriends. It was somewhat obvious that said boyfriends wouldn't be too honest on their love if they decided to chase Fleur's skirt.

The last time Fleur got the... urge to help was with his brother Charlie. For three months, Fleur cooked several plans to get him and a fellow dragon keeper together. Bill wasn't too sure if that would work, but she got them married and with two kids already.

On the other hand, he would never be able to drink a Butterbeer without casting scanning charms first. It worked with Charlie, yes, but cheerful dragon keepers were very, very weird. Especially when they admitted their feelings. Even if it was to one of the reserve's dragons, like that poor guy who took a swig off Charlie's bottle did. And that was just Plan Number Three.

"All right then." he finally said, "Let's try some of the other plans first, though. I guess we could start with Number Ten."

"Spike their drinks with Sleeping Potion, strip them to their underwear and tie them to the bed?"

"Ah, not that one. I keep switching that one with the other... you know which one."

"Oh, Number Thirteen then. That's a good way to start. A bit cliché, yes, but effective."

"Well, we gotta start somewhere... but we still need to find how to apply it, though."

"Do you really think I don't have a plan for that as well?"

"Fleur, sometimes, just sometimes, you can be very, very scary."

"I know that Bill, just like I know that sometimes, just sometimes, you will be very, very uncomfortable sleeping on the couch."

**.**

**Potter Farm, Living Room**

**.**

That night, the group was once again sitting around to coffee table, waiting for the usual pre-exploration briefing to start.

"All right," Harry said, "now that we're all ready, let's get this show on the road. We're going a bit deeper this time." he explained, handing the other people on the room a general outline of the second area to explore.

Bill rubbed his chin. "I thought we were going to stick to the closer areas. Oh," he said, noticing the details of the area they explored already, "I see. Never mind, then."

"Yeah, the area we're going to explore can be accessed through the main street of the place we visited last time. We won't go farther than that for now, though. We'll only go deeper once the other side is charted as well." Hexior explained.

"A sound plan." Septima agreed. "Do you have any news on that sword?"

"None yet. My best guess would be that we'll have some answers the day after tomorrow."

"Hmm, I guess we'll have to wait, then. By the way, do you think we may find the same kind of beasts?"

"That's possible, yes, but I think we'll find other monsters as well." Hex traded glances with Harry. "We don't think it will be very dangerous, but we couldn't scout this area from the tower on the outside."

"All right then. I guess things should be easy, then."

"It should go pretty much like our last exploration, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. Our loadout should be pretty much the same that we took before. Hex, do you have something to add?" asked Harry, turning towards his fellow officer.

Merlose leaned forward slowly, deep in thought. "So far, we're exploring the areas near the walls, so it shouldn't be too hard to go through the areas. However, I've been thinking about the Timmies. If you check the map, the are we're going to explore is on the opposite side of the wall that has the hole. Somehow, I think those guys have some semblance of logic about the places they roam."

"That is worrying." Bill said. "On the other hand, if we know they can show up at a given spot, we can be ready to greet them properly."

"That's also true," agreed Hexior, "and that is the point that makes me think that taking this risk is worth it. Anyway, regarding the information about the ruins, I read a few more things, although I don't expect to see those things on the upper levels."

"What are you talking about?" inquired Septima, eyeing the officer with an intrigued look.

"Well, I've found out about a few enemies that lie on the lower levels of the ruins... Elementals."

Everybody in the room stood silent for a few moments, before Fleur decided to ask the question on the minds of every single person there. "Elementals? Like, fire, water, air..."

"Yes," the officer nodded, "Entities embodying the power of the elements. I don't have that much information on them, though.

"Well, we won't meet them there yet, so I guess that isn't very worrying, right?" quipped Septima, eliciting nods of agreement from the other members of the team.

"Exactly." Sophie said. "So you," she turned her gaze to her husband, "shouldn't worry about that for now."

"Yes dear."

"Good boy."

Hex rolled his eyes. "Are you going to ask me to play dead?"

"No, bit I may hit you with a newspaper if you don't behave. Now that I think of it, should I use a paddle?"

Harry chuckled, amused by the couple's antics. "Oooh, kinky."

"Don't worry, I'll lend the paddle to you if you want a spanking as well." Sophie retorted, in a tone of voice that made it sound like it was a perfectly trivial thing.

The green-eyed wizard almost spat the tea he was currently drinking. "Wh- Whaaaaaaat?" he asked, blushing deeply. "No thanks, I'll pass your offer."

Sophie smirked, seeing the young man's embarrassed face. "Your loss." Chuckles were heard around the table as Harry's blush seemed to go beyond the physically possible.

"May we move our conversation away from spanking, please?" he asked, trying to salvage what was left of his dignity.

Merlose snorted, seeing Harry's attempt to escape further embarrassment. "Sure. When are you sending the status report to Goldsmelter?"

Harry mentally sighed in relief. "I sent the report regarding the first exploration the day after we went there, but I told him he was free to come by when he had the time to spare, so he could hear more details."

"And check the wine." his fellow officer said, smiling.

"Right."

"All right then. Does anyone have any questions? No? Well, I guess this briefing is over, then. Let's get some rest."

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><p><strong>And another chapter comes and goes. Next chapter: Exploring the Ruins, Round Two!<strong>

**See ya!**


	9. The Second Raid

**Disclaimer: Same old, same old.  
><strong>

**I'm still alive! Here's another chapter, and Merry Christmas!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Island Ruins, Main Street<strong>

**.**

"Damn rain," Harry complained, as he almost slipped on yet another patch of moss, "this must be the fifth time I almost slipped today."

"It's not like we can cast a water-repelling charm on the city, is it?" Hexior asked rhetorically, ignoring Harry's dirty look at the comment. "I guess we'll have to live with it."

Septima shook her head, jumping over a puddle of water. "I'm just wondering how did the weather turn from sunny to a downpour in the blink of an eye."

"That's usual here," Harry said, "the time sometimes changes like that. Hex, do you think the weather might be related to the ruins?" he asked, turning towards his friend.

The officer scratched his chin for a bit, before shrugging. "There is some stuff about it, but it would take some time to explain the whole story."

"Let's find a sheltered place and see if this gets a bit better, shall we?" Bill asked, trying to keep his long hair away from his eyes. "I don't think we can do a lot of exploring when it's raining like this. We can barely see ourselves!"

"Sounds good to me," Harry agreed, "it would be too easy for us to get ourselves lost, and it should be almost noon. Let's stop for a while and get something to eat while we plan if we keep going or return home."

Merlose nodded. "That would be the sensible thing to do... let's look for a place to rest for a bit, then."

The other two men nodded, but Septima looked unsure, looking around with a strange expression on her face. Harry was the first one to notice this, and as the group started walking forward again, he approached the former Arithmancy teacher. "Is there something wrong? I noticed you looking around a while ago."

Vector shook her head. "I don't know Harry. I felt like someone – or some_thing_ was watching us. I don't really know what to make of it. It was probably nothing, but I just can't calm down."

Harry tensed up, looking around quickly. "Yeah, it was probably nothing," he tried to assure, although his fingers were gripping the rifle he carried a bit tighter than needed, "but we should keep sharp, just in case."

"Hey you two, over here!" Hex waved, pointing to a sturdy two-floor house. "Dry and without beasties, I guess we can rest for a bit here, right?"

"Well, no complaints on my end," muttered Bill, "even a hole on the ground would be good."

The green-eyed wizard couldn't help but to agree with Bill's comment "Yeah, as long as there are no beasties and no rain, it's good to me." he said, following the other two towards the door.

As the four magicals entered their impromptu resting spot, someone (or something) else was watching them, studying the group intently. They were observant, true, but not enough to perceive the danger that was creeping closer and closer.

Soon, their first trial would begin.

**.**

**Island Ruins, The Team's Shelter**

**.**

Groaning, Harry rested his weapons against the wall before sitting heavily on a nearby stone bench. "Phew, a dry place at last!" he sighed in relief, quickly whipping his wand out and casting drying spells on himself and the rest of the team.

"Tell me about it," Bill replied from his own bench, "I'm getting tired of all this water. What an insane weather!" he complained, before quickly adding as Harry's spell hit him, "Thanks, much better now."

"Yeah, thanks Harry." Septima said, opening her backpack to search for some food."The weather seemed to look good for the whole day when we arrived... speaking of which, could you explain now your theory on how the ruins are behind the whole weather changes?" she asked Hex.

The officer didn't reply right away, opting instead to take a bite form the apple he fished from his backpack right after he sat down, his mind trying to remember the whole story and the best way to start talking about it. "It all began with the destruction of the city, some thirty years before it was split between the two worlds. This was a fairly important city back then, but a sudden earthquake, followed by a flood, destroyed the city and killed everyone inside. Now, this just seems to be a great streak of bad luck, right?" he asked, before taking another bite of the apple and letting the other think about it.

"Let me guess," Harry said, opening a bottle of water and taking a sip from it, "there was something there that hinted that what happened wasn't something natural."

"Exactly," Merlose nodded, "My ancestor's books didn't go in much detail yet, but she referred some reports from the local authorities whose transcriptions were included in one of the books I've yet to read. Apparently, the earthquake and the flood ruined the city, but the surrounding lands, mostly farms with a few houses and other buildings, escaped unscathed."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't make any sense. If the earthquake hit the city that bad, the surrounding lands should have suffered something as well."

"It could be that the city suffered the worst because the buildings are so close to each other." Septima said, but her theory was shot down by Hex's head shaking.

"Nope. That's another detail from the reports. The earthquake separated the city from the main landmass. We're talking about a magnitude that was enough to change part of the landscape itself. There's no way a few farmhouses could have survived that, they were too close."

"Well, it certainly sounds very fishy." Harry said with a pensive face. "By the looks of things, you could almost say that..." he blinked, horrified by the prospect that came to his mind. "Merlin... you don't mean that it was an intentional..."

Merlose nodded gravely. "Yes. It was also written that the country's Parliament ordered all investigations on the incident to be closed with no plausible justification. You can guess my ancestor's comments on that, can you?"

"The Parliament, or at least some of its members, were somehow related to the incident?" the former teacher inquired, feeling slightly sick at the implications.

"Indeed, Septima. She believed the Parliament was behind it all, they seemed to want to control the Gran Grimoire, and the power that came with it. So they sacrificed the entire city to the power that used to flow here. Of course, there was a key component that they forgot, and without it, their plan only resulted in a city filled with monsters." Hex chuckled ruefully.

"So, which component are you talking about?" Bill inquired, leaning a bit closer.

"The Blood-Sin." Hexior then drew a vertical line in the sand, crossed a bit below the middle by two smaller diagonal lines. "This is the original symbol, and it's inverted form was the symbol of the Church of Iocus. They had a cathedral on this city, but that particular part of the city stayed on the other world. They used to call the original version of their cross the 'Rood Inverse'. Either way, this cross was a tattoo that one had on the back, something that was considered by many as a mark of heresy. The one bearing this cross was able to control the power of the Gran Grimoire... but that only came to light some twenty-five years after the city was destroyed."

"Why would that come to light? Did the Parliament keep trying to control the city?" Harry asked, thinking of what would happen if someone like Voldemort took that power to himself.

"No, not the Parliament. Would you believe if I said it was the Church itself? The Cardinal of the wanted the power and the immortality that came with it. Of course, there was something that he overlooked, and that my ancestor quoted word by word: 'those who crave the Dark cannot control the Dark'. If he tried to claim the powers of the city to himself, he'd become a soulless abominations. Only someone who did not desire the Dark could be the vessel for the powers of the city."

"So someone had to keep the Blood-Sin safe from the Cardinal." Septima said, entranced by the tale.

"Yes. The family of the Blood-Sin's creator kept the secret for many years, until it was found by the Cardinal and a few others. The bearer of the Blood-Sin did his best to keep it safe, and eventually he found someone that did not desire the power of the Dark. That person was the one that came with the idea of splitting the city to ensure nobody else could try to take its power. And you know the rest of the story."

Septima nodded after a few moments, before voicing her thoughts. "Okay, that was quite enlightening, but... you forgot to answer my question."

Merlose actually blinked twice at the comment, thinking about what he just said, and realizing she was right. "Oops, I guess I got carried away." he admitted sheepishly, eliciting facepalms from the other explorers. "But anyway, weather control, right? From what I've read, whichever means the Parliament used to cause the destruction of the city are still around, but probably in a lesser form, since the city was split. This is only a theory, though. I need to read further to prove it, but so far what I've seen fits with my thoughts on the matter."

"Fair enough." Harry said, getting to his feet and walking towards the window. "And this rain seems to keep going steady."

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice, then..." muttered Hex, adjusting the straps of his backpack. "Time to turn around and return home. It's either that or spending the night here, and I don't feel like sleeping at Hotel Zombie, thank you very much."

"Agreed," Bill said quickly, grabbing his backpack, "even if we pressed on, the badges can't map the layout of the area, so it's useless."

Harry sighed turning his back from the window and grabbing his own gear. A sudden shadow, however, had him turn around suddenly, pointing his rifle at the window.

"Harry?" Septima asked, her hands also going for the rifle, "What is it?"

"I think there's something outside." he said giving a quick nod to Merlose.

The officer eyed the door and the window warily, his rifle now ready to fire. Harry sometimes seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to ambushes, so the green-eyed wizard's nod was pretty much the only confirmation that the veteran needed to know things were about to get hot. "Get ready. Harry, check the back door. If we can't take whatever comes inside, we'll have to wing it out of here, and I'm not sure if we'll have time to Apparate out of here safely."

The youngest of the group muttered something under his breath and slowly opened the back door, revealing a narrow side street. "It's cle-"

Whatever he had to say, however, was rudely interrupted when the front window burst into pieces as a red suit of armour leapt inside, almost skewering Hex with its long sword.

"Fuck!" the man swore, dodging the lunge and firing a burst on reflex, watching in disbelief as the suit of armour got out of his line of fire with another acrobatic move. "This guy is smart!" he stated needlessly, as the other three members added their fire to the mix.

The suit fell back as the bullets hit its chest plate, but the explorers knew this opening would last only a little while. Already the strange type of Dullahan was getting to its feet, once again doing some very strange moves. The team member knew then that there was only one thing they could do.

"This is a foe beyond any of us. Run!" Hexior said, laying suppressive fire along with Bill as they retreated towards the back door.

"No shit, Gandalf!" spat Harry, already outside, his rifle belching fire at the few unfortunate monsters that were attracted by the sudden noise.

"This is not the time for jokes!" the other man replied, grabbing a grenade from his belt. "Let's see if it can blow up. Bill could you cast a sound-dampening charm on this general area? Don't need my eardrums blow up."

The redhead nodded silently, his wand sliding from his holster in one swift move, as Hex threw the explosive device inside and ran away very fast, the others following him closely. A second or two later, the muffled sound of the explosion was heard, but none of them dared to check if the armour was down for good, instead opting for the best part of valour and getting themselves out of there.

"Bugger, bugger, bugger!" Harry cursed, reloading his rifle, "Why did Timmy had to call its cousins today! Wanker!"

"I don't care what's the relationship between Timmy and that one, all I know is that he's even tougher than the Timmies. This is NOT good, I tell you!" replied Septima. "Four people firing at him and all we did was to scratch the painting!"

"We should have brought the experimental ammo, yes." Bill agreed, his mind going towards the bullets that they, along with Goldsmelter's goblins, were trying to enchant with piercing and explosive charms. "But there's no use in crying over spoilt milk. Right now, we have to get out of here, and get out of here fast!"

Harry replied with a grunt as they walked through the side street. Unlike the main accesses through the town, which were broad and well-lit, the side roads were narrower, darker places, used by servants or bandits on the high hours of the night. On both sides of the street, the ruins reminded the expedition team that the state of the main road façades, who seemed to resist the test of time, did not apply to the rest of the houses.

After ten tense minutes of walking and trying to open the doors of the houses that seemed in a better state, they finally reached a door that seemed able to be opened, unlike many others rendered unusable by fallen debris. With a kick, the half-rotten wood was thrown off its hinges and the foursome got inside, scanning for more threats.

"Now," Harry finally said, checking the map, "the street should be towards the East, but our only way out seems to be in the opposite direction. I feel like we've just walked into a labyrinth, you know?"

"Don't jinx it." grumbled Bill, "We don't need more problems than the one we just faced. I really hope there aren't many more of those guys out there."

"Now who's jinxing?" the younger wizard replied sarcastically.

"Knock it off, you two." interrupted Hex, "Do you have any ideas beyond 'follow the damn doors and try to find the main road'?" he asked, waiting a second for their reply. "... didn't think so." he finally sighed. "Truth is, I don't have any ideas either, so I guess we'll have to stick to following the doors and pray that we find our way back today. Oh, and the noise must have attracted every beastie from here to the village, so check your clips and be always prepared to fire."

"Like you have to say that twice." grumbled Harry. "I just hope we don't end up in deeper shit than the one we're on right now."

"Real optimistic, aren't you Harry?" Hex chuckled. "But to be honest, I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was thinking something among those lines, too. Still, better to get moving, we don't know how long this detour will take."

Nodding, the other members of the team walked towards the other door, opening it carefully. There was nothing on the other side, apart from yet another empty street, a little narrower than a main one, but littered from the rubble coming from the ruined houses on the right side. Looking to their left side, they saw a river with stormy, deep blue water and beyond it, another street that ended in the distance on what seemed to be the main road they were exploring in the first place

"Well," Septima quipped, "at least we know the way back now. We just need to find a way to cross a deep and treacherous river."

"Not helping the situation Septima..." Harry grumbled, looking for a hint of a bridge or a shallow zone. "There's nothing close that could allow us to cross the river... I guess we'll have to go through this road and look for a bridge ourselves." he paused for a few moments. "We could also try to conjure something similar to a bridge, but this place makes the magic a bit unstable. I don't want to risk it with us being as far from the other side as we are right now."

"Wait," Bill interrupted, "how come we don't have problems with our bags or our armour, then?"

"That's because it's rune-based, not to mention it is a different school of magic that isn't affected as Transfigured or Conjured stuff is." Merlose explained, pointing to the engravings on the barrel of his rifle. "The inherent magic of the place tends to force things to assume their natural shapes, unless we anchor the modifications to the object through rune arrays. My ancestors found out about this and decided to go all-runes to any enchanted items that might end up being used inside the ruins. It is unnecessary in some cases, but the advantages of a rune-array over an enchantment in heavy-duty applications is undeniable."

"Unless the rune array is damaged." replied the redhead, understanding the reasoning behind the runes, "but I assume you thought about that as well?"

The officer nodded. "Right. We reinforce our arrays with an extra layer of hardness enchanting, or even disassembling the weapons and placing the arrays on places that aren't normally exposed. Our swords are usually enchanted before we put the grip on them, so the rune arrays will be inside the grip. My sword is a bit different, but it is a family heirloom with a lot of weird features."

"So that's why your sword has all those runes inscribed on the blade, unlike Harry's sword. Still it doesn't seem as old as you just said it was." the Arithmancy teacher said, finally understanding a part of the mystery that was the great-sword that Hexior referred to as the 'Riskbreaker'.

Harry snorted. "That would be the responsibility of the 'weird features' Hex referred to. He's downplaying it, but whomever made that blade was a genius. It can identify and assimilate a better material to its function, not to mention it self-repairs as long as you make sure the blade is touching a raw material. It freaked me out the first time I saw it. And sometimes, I get the feeling it slowly improves its composition as time goes. I'm pretty sure the edge didn't look that sharp when I first saw that blade."

"Harry pretty much summed most of the things I know about it. Apart from that, I know the blade cannot be broken and it is recorded that it could punch through Timmy armour like paper. I'm not looking forward to test it, though."

With the explanation given, the foursome walked forwards, shifting their focus towards checking their surroundings for enemies. Under the rain, they walked slowly but surely, with one of them occasionally looking around, trying to find a place to cross.

"To our right. Lizardmen." Harry suddenly whispered, motioning the others to look to a nearby balcony. There, the two lizard-like beings were looking around, looking perhaps for the prey that the enchanted armour suit failed to capture.

The group immediately tensed up, hiding behind a building's corner. "Harry, Septima," Hex whispered, drawing his blade, "they're too many for us to manage to shoot them all down. Take those you can out and let the others to me. Bill, you want to shoot as well or do you feel like testing that scimitar of yours?"

"I'll go for the scimitar, with Harry and Septima shooting there won't be much to clean up anyway." the curse-breaker smiled.

"You'd be surprised," the other man said as he prepared to go out of cover, "Lizardmen are agile. Very agile. Harry, on three. One..."

"Two..." Harry said, bringing the butt of his weapon against his shoulder. Right next to him, Septima did the same, her lips curling in a grin.

"Three!" both wizards screamed before the team jumped out of cover. The lizards on the balcony barely had time to react before the first bullets bit them right in the heads. However, the ones behind them were luckier. Five more left the building, with one snuffed out in mid-air with a shot from Septima, falling into the river. Harry handled another one as it landed, shredding its chest with a burst. After that, there was no line of sight to safely shoot them.

Hex was a few steps ahead of the two marksmen, his blade ready for the first blow. His eyes bet the ones of the lead lizardman, and the reptile charged forward, hefting his own great-sword. Blade met blade, and the two were locked in combat. Hex pushed forwards, forcing the monster to take a step back to swing his weapon.

Of course, this is the part where the Patrol Officer punches him in the face, taking a step back before performing a quick blow from the side, aiming at the enemy's dominant side. The blade bit through the leather braces, eliciting a howl of pain from the beast moments before Merlose finished his movement with a vertical slash, bisecting the beast.

"That's one," he muttered, watching Bill engaging the second one in combat. That meant there was one left, who tried to run past the melee fighters. Reacting quickly, the veteran spun on the balls of his feet, cutting the legs of his new foe before finishing the job with a kick to the back of the lizardman's neck, snapping the spinal cord and killing it instantly. "And done."

On Bill's side, things were a bit more heated up. His opponent had the range advantage, wielding a wicked looking trident, but the curse-breaker was managing to keep its attacks at bay, buying some time to formulate a strategy. Unlike Hexior, Bill was not a physical powerhouse, and so the strength advantage also fell on the side of the lizardman. Of course, when you wield a spear you sacrifice your defence in case the enemy manages to get past the spiky implement on the pole you carry as a weapon. Bill knew this, fruit of the long fencing lessons with Harry, and he knew what to do. First thing, find a way to bat aside the weapon.

'Of course, this is easier said than done.' he thought as he parried another blow. 'It's not like I can simply grab the spear and push it aside, that thing seems to be strong enough to pierce sto- ooooh,' he smiled, as the repositioned himself to have a wall near his back.

As the lizardman lunged, Bill stepped aside, smirking as his suspicions were confirmed and the spear got stuck to the wall. The Lizard tried to pull the weapon off the wall, a distraction that cost it its life, as Bill swung his weapon and finished the combat via decapitation.

"Wow, Bill sure managed to hold his own." Septima remarked, approaching the two swordsmen, who were now in the process of cleaning the blood off their weapons.

"Harry is a good teacher, that's all." the eldest Weasley brother smiled, in what could be seen as a subtle nod at his brief sting as the teacher of a clandestine movement during his days as a Hogwarts student.

"It helps that the student has experience on thinking on his feet." Harry replied. "You did great there, nice planning with the spear on the wall thing."

"Thanks, but we should get moving, there might be more nearby, after this fight."

The green-eyed wizard smiled. "I have good news. While you two were busy being awesome, I think I found a bridge in the distance. If we hurry, it won't take long until we're on the other side, so come on, we still have three hours of walking ahead of us!" he said, taking point as the rain started to become lighter.

Their first problematic situation was solved, but Merlose was pretty troubled. What was that Dullahan lookalike? He'd need to look for any books on monsters on his archives. Getting information from references on other texts would not do at all, not after this day.

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><p><strong>So yeah, it was a pretty bad time for writing. My laptop broke, and I had a bunch of stuff regarding my fics there. I'm now on my replacement computer, which is a good bit older, but still workable. Then a bunch of other things got in the way, and inspiration didn't come... until now, that is.<strong>

**See you next chapter!**


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